‘Cocky’ England accused of Bazball ‘disrespect’

Former England captain Michael Vaughan led the howls of discontent after an embarrassing eight wicket loss to Sri Lanka at The Oval.
England won the series 2-1 but an unbeaten century by opener Pathum Nissanka prevented a clean sweep.
It was only Sri Lanka’s fourth Test victory on English soil.
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BBC commentator Michael Vaughan speaks to Alison Mitchell. Getty
The platform was built when they skittled England for 156 in just 34 overs in their second innings and were given a victory target of 219.
“I felt that they disrespected Test cricket, and disrespected Sri Lanka in the third Test by being over-aggressive with both the bat and in their field placings,” Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph UK.
“England have made a habit of becoming a bit complacent after a good period – I think of the start of the Ashes, or earlier this year in Rajkot – and I hope it serves as a wake-up call for the tougher Tests that lie in wait in 2025. There is no way they will get away with playing like this against India or Australia.
“The intensity and concentration in the big moments were missing this week. It was all a bit flimsy, cocky even. They took the mickey out of the game. The answer in Test cricket’s hottest moments cannot always be attack, attack, attack.”
England got sloppy and occasionally reckless with the bat.
Aggression has been the hallmark of the ‘Bazball’ era since flamboyant former New Zealand star Brendon McCullum took the coaching reins in 2022.
Joe Root of England in the field during day four. Getty
Vaughan said England were “knackered” if Joe Root did not anchor the batting from No.4.
“He cannot do it every week, and he did not do it this week. Jasprit Bumrah enjoys bowling at Root, and could severely limit his output next summer,” he said.
“The same goes for Pat Cummins in Australia, where Root has never scored a hundred.”
Angelo Mathews and Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka leave the field after winning. Getty
Nissanka underpinned the chase with his second Test hundred, reaching three figures in 107 balls and finishing 127 not out as Sri Lanka got to 219 in 40.3 overs.
The diminutive opener, who struck 13 fours and two sixes, spread his arms wide and soaked in the applause inside a half-full ground after passing 100, then kissed his bat and looked to the sky.
England are being captained by Ollie Pope in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes.
England captain Ollie Pope leaves the field after losing. Getty
England legend Geoffrey Boycott said Pope was exposed.
“In a low scoring match, he gifted Sri Lanka 69 runs with an assortment of slow bowling in bad light and that was a big mistake for me,” Boycott wrote in The Telegraph UK.
“Also everybody giving away too many wickets to bad shots… this was a match where Bazball did not work.”
England coach Brendon McCullum at Lord’s. Ryan Pierse via Getty Images
Another ex-England skipper, Alastair Cook, said the ugly loss was a “reality check” after two wins over lowly-ranked opponents.
“They haven’t been tested at times this summer,” Cook said on BBC’s Test Match Special.
“Maybe they have been missing real competition and when they got it they couldn’t respond yesterday against some high quality bowling.
“Sri Lanka have been so good at playing what’s in front of them.”
The recently retired Stuart Broad was more forgiving, opting to focus on the positives of a series win and exposing some new players including rookie left-arm quick Josh Hull.
“But this performance will frustrate them slightly, especially now there is a bit of a break before they play another Test match,” Broad said on Sky Sports.
“Almost when you play like this and don’t get it quite right, you want to play the following week and stamp some of those habits out. England probably didn’t care for their wickets enough and get a big enough lead.”
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara – also speaking on Sky Sports – said England were well off the pace of the Test heavyweights.
“I don’t think that was good enough,” he said.
“Are they going to keep saying this is how we play, this is going to happen, let’s go do the same thing. Are they going to learn and evolve? They are going to play much tougher sides. No criticism on Sri Lanka but you have much more experienced and capable sides.
“India, Australia, away from England without the Duke’s ball.
“How is that going to stand up under pressure?”