Former England captain Nasser Hussain was furious with the England cricket team's batting display against New Zealand in the 2nd innings of the ongoing Edgbaston Test. England lost 9 wickets for 122 runs at the end of day three, after New Zealand got bowled out on 388 in the first innings and took 85 runs lead.
No English batsmen could touch the 30-run mark and the last pair of Olly Stone (15*) and James Anderson (0*) were in the middle at close of play. With a lead of just 37 runs, the game was as good as over.
Hussain pointed out the odd batting techniques of the England batters which costed them the match and the series. "There seems to have been a reinvention of the wheel out there with batting. Techniques out there that everyone else who has played the game before - they are all wrong and we are right. We're going to have these odd little techniques, we're going to have the bat coming across it, we're going to stand funny, we're going to swing outside our off-stump because everyone else in the history of the game - Viv Richards, you are wrong, and we are right," he said on Sky Sports.
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England were criticized for showing no intent to chase down 273 in the first Test at Lord's cricket ground. They simply played for a draw despite the Test match not counted in the ICC World Test Championship.
Hussain feels, with England to face Team India in the upcoming months, the Joe Root-led side will have to fix their batting woes before the five-match Test series starts in August.
"I'm not seeing 'we are right' at the moment, whether it be in Sri Lanka where Joe Root carried them, whether it be in India and they don't have the excuse of the pitches turning here. Whether it being the seaming ball or the spinning ball, they are right and everyone else is wrong. And I don't see a young batting line-up. I see Sibley, Burns, Crawley, Root and Pope. There's no one missing in that top five - then come Stokes and Buttler. They've got all the coaches, all the backroom staff - please, just get back to playing normally and getting a first innings score," he added.
"The other thing is, these are the lads that are getting the runs in county cricket. If you picked the five who are getting runs, these are them. So please, have a look at your game and more importantly have a look at the opposition - they are batting how you're supposed to. It's just chalk and cheese. Technically gifted, sound batsmen playing the game the way it's supposed to be played - let the ball come to you, leave it well and play with a straight bat. Six changes they've made and they still look such a sharp outfit."
(With Sky Sports Inputs)
