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"We have done so many good things": Chris Woakes defends Bazball

Tuesday, 20-Jan-2026, 03:47 AM
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Chris Woakes has defended Bazball, saying that England would be making a serious mistake if they relinquished the aggressive philosophy that has defined the Ben Stokes–Brendon McCullum era, even in the wake of a bruising Ashes defeat. According to Woakes, discarding that vision after one disappointing campaign would ruin the amount of progress made under Stokes and McCullum.

"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," Woakes said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. 

"We were not winning games of cricket. 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," he said.

Woakes suggested that Ashes defeat should be treated as a learning opportunity rather than a verdict on the approach itself.  

"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 realize 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," he said.



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