"Probably not the way to go about it": Warner's bold Ashes prediction for England's 'Bazball' brand of cricket

London [UK], March 14 (ANI): Former Australian opener David Warner said that Aussies are favourites for the home Ashes series against England late this year and the high-risk 'Bazball' cricket played by the Three Lions would not be suitable on Australian pitches.
Warner, who has been selected by the London Spirit team in the player's draft to play this year's The Hundred competition in the UK, was speaking to the media
Speaking to the media as quoted by Wisden, Warner said that the world-class bowling line-up of Australia, consisting of pace trio of skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon, would be the biggest threat for England.
"At the moment, just with the Australians [as favourites]. Not just knowing the conditions but you have got over 1,400 international, or Test wickets in that lineup with the Australian cricket team. They are world-class bowlers, they are always going to turn out and that is the biggest hurdle for England," said Warner.
On England's 'Bazball' style of high-risk, positive and attacking cricket, Warner said, "I do not know if Bazball is a myth now over there, but I cannot see it happening in Australia with the bounce and everything and the fields Australia set last time in England. It would be pretty high risk to play that in Australia."
"Given that you want to wear the wickets out a little bit - get into day four, day five, it is probably not the way to go about it. But if that is the way they go about it, it is going to be high tempo, high energy and we will all get a couple of days off at the back end I think," he added.
England's men's Test team failed to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final for the third time, under the leadership of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. Their struggles in white-ball cricket, which included failed 50-over and 20-over title defences and a winless ICC Champions Trophy campaign this year, have not helped them either. The upcoming Ashes series will be McCullum's first tour of Australia as England's head coach since taking over as coach in 2022.
The five-match series will begin in Perth on November 21, with the remaining four Tests to be held in Brisbane (day-night Test), Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
Series schedule:
First Test: Perth Stadium, November 21-25
Second Test: Gabba, December 4-8
Third Test: Adelaide Oval, December 17-21
Fourth Test: MCG, December 26-30
Fifth Test: SCG, January 4-8. (ANI)