Last Updated on 2 weeks ago by Charbel Coorey

Chris Woakes believes that it would “be daft” if England were to move away from Bazball in the wake of their humiliating 1-4 defeat in the Ashes in Australia this winter.

England’s style of play under head coach Brendon McCullum unravelled spectacularly Down Under, with their players’ inability to adapt, soak in the pressure during crucial passages of play, and hammer down the advantage brutally exposed.

In addition to this, poor selection calls, abysmal on-field tactics, and a seemingly undisciplined team culture compounded their problems, leading to widespread calls for the sacking of the leadership group, including Director of Cricket Rob Key.

England shouldn’t undo Bazball – Chris Woakes

However, Woakes, while speaking to ESPNCricinfo, claimed that binning “Bazball” for a new approach would undo all the good work that McCullum and Stokes have done since taking over in the summer of 2022.

Woakes noted that England were a very poor side before Stokes and Baz took over, and while he admitted that the recent Australian tour was a disappointment, he put that down to the English players’ lack of experience of playing in Australian conditions.

He also feels that the inexperience in the bowling attack contributed majorly to their downfall.

“I think it’d be daft to kind of rip it up and start again. We have done so many good things over the last three years. We won some extremely exciting Test matches. I think people forget that before they took over, we were a pretty poor side. We were not winning games of cricket,” Woakes said.

“I think at the same time now, obviously, we’ve had a poor series in Australia and haven’t got quite over the line in the big series, but they’re close. To rip it up now would be a bit daft.

“It didn’t go really well in Australia, obviously. I think we had the team to be able to compete. The guys are extremely talented. I think maybe going to Australia for the first time for a lot of them, maybe got exposed a little bit to the conditions.

“Then you realise that you have to back it up day after day after day. They didn’t win those key moments. I think particularly as a bowling attack, they probably didn’t quite have the experience and the know-how to perform on those surfaces,” Woakes told ESPNCricinfo.

Woakes retired from international cricket at the end of the last English summer and is currently plying his trade in the Bangladesh Premier League. He hit a last-ball six to lead Sylhet Titans to a thrilling win over Rangpur Riders in the Eliminator.