"Australia were doing it 20 years before them”- Adam Gilchrist takes a dig at England’s ‘Bazball’ ahead of Ashes 2025-26

Adam Gilchrist gave a strong response to Zak Crawley.

Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has responded to England opener Zak Crawley’s recent assertion that “Bazball winds the Aussies up,” pointing out that Australia has been playing an aggressive type of cricket long before England embraced it.  

Crawley told The Times that England’s aggressive style of play under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had visibly irritated Australia during the 2023 Ashes, which concluded in a 2-2 draw.

“Bazball really winds them up, doesn’t it? Which is great. If they get wound up, then that’s better for us. All that stuff after the last series, talking about ‘the moral Ashes’ after what happened with Jonny Bairstow [getting stumped by Alex Carey at Lord’s], that was just a consequence of us drawing the series. In my eyes, if they’d won, they would never have said it, so it’s a compliment that they felt the need,” Crawley had said, speaking to The Times.

Regardless of the circumstances of the match, players are encouraged to bat and play boldly in test matches by England coach Brendon McCullum’s “Bazball” approach.

Despite having some brilliant moments under this ideology, England’s performance has been patchy, winning 25 and losing 14 of their 41 games.

“Bring it on”—Adam Gilchrist responds to Zak Crawley’s Bazball comment

Gilchrist, who scored 5,570 runs in 96 tests at a strike rate of 82, was a key member of Australia’s strong 2000s team, which combined aggression with consistency and established the standard for attacking cricket long before the Bazball era.

He, along with Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Damien Martyn, and the Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark, led Australia’s domination across all formats during their golden age.

“We were doing it 20 years before them. It’s just the way you play cricket. No, it (Bazball) does not wind me up. It makes for compelling viewing. Bring it on,” Gilchrist said in response to Crawley on Kayo Sports.  

England have yet to win an Ashes series in Australia since their 3-1 series win in 2010-11. Since then, they have suffered a 5-0 whitewash in 2013/14 and lost the subsequent two series 4-0.

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