Ben Stokes is well aware of the threat posed by World Test Championship winners Australia but says England have “found something that works” and will not back down from their high-risk, high-reward style of play in the upcoming Ashes series.
Stokes and coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum have ushered in a fearless approach that has injected fresh excitement into Test cricket with England winning 11 of their last 13 Tests under the duo.
Stokes ruled out discarding that ‘Bazball’ approach in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston from Friday.
“We know the threat that Australia pose, no matter who they are playing against, they are a very good team, but we’ve found something that works and has been successful,” Stokes told BBC Test Match Special.
“That doesn’t change with the opposition.”
Australia crushed India by 209 runs in the WTC final at The Oval on Sunday and have not parted with the Ashes since reclaiming the urn in 2017-18.
Stokes said there was no point in adopting a more measured approach against their arch-rivals.
“Nothing is going to change because we’ve had unbelievable success with it,” he said.
“If we were to change anything from the last 12 months because we find ourselves in an Ashes series, then anything from the last 12 months will have been completely pointless.”
England’s attacking approach in red-ball cricket has also lured Moeen Ali out of Test retirement. Moeen, an all-rounder who bowls off-spin, thinks Bazball allows him the licence to go for adventurous shots in Tests too.
