Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has opined on his perspective on the term ‘Bazball’ before the Test series against England, which begins on August 21 in Manchester. Jayasuriya said that this aggressive approach existed also during their playing days but he also suggested that the media publicity around Bazball is on a different level now. Since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as England’s Test coach and captain duties, respectively, they have adopted an aggressive style of play and found success too.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Jayasuriya said: “You get various styles depending on the time. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did it too during our time. This is something similar to what we have had in the past. There has just been some media publicity that this is something new. They try to play attacking cricket from the outset, but the end goal is to get to those totals of 300 or 400.”
While talking about the upcoming series, the veteran added that restricting English batters in the first ten overs will be critical and the bowlers must bowl in the right areas too as well. However, England suffered their first series loss to India earlier this year. With McCullum underlining the need to refine ‘Bazball’, England successfully beat the West Indies 3-0 as well.
He stated, “It’s in the first ten overs that there will be the most pressure, I think. If you look historically, they have been attacking in that first ten overs and getting runs on the board quickly. We have got some plans to counter that. And we know this is how they will play. We have to bowl in the right places, and if they hit the good balls, that’s okay. We need to identify the right lengths given the conditions.”
However, he feels Sri Lanka’s strength is their experienced batting unit but he also added that the batters must play big innings if they get their eye in. The former opener and captain also shared that Sri Lankan players must relish the opportunity to play three Tests in a series along with preparing for the impending challenges during the tour as well.
“We have an experienced batting order. Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal – they have all played a lot of cricket. We have the personnel there but we need to fight hard. If you play six or seven batters, only two or three will perform for sure. If they get a start, they need to play big innings. They know they have that responsibility on challenging wickets. I want to make sure there is that hunger. Playing three Tests like this, this is not an opportunity you will get easily again. So we have to take it while we can. Scoring runs here is challenging, because even if the pitches are flat, the ball can still start swinging, or seaming. We have to know how to adjust to that,” Sanath Jayasuriya concluded.
