Former Australia pacer Glenn McGrath is disappointed to see the lack of aggression from England players in the ongoing Ashes series.
According to McGrath, too much “political correctness” is taking away the fun from the game and he would prefer to see a fiery contest.
“It can be a little bit too nice sometimes. That’s the way everything’s going, isn’t it? There’s a lot of political correctness. People are a bit nervous about being aggressive and playing hard,” McGrath was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.
“I remember, when Nasser Hussain came out here with England, they weren’t even allowed to talk to us or say ‘G’day’.”
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Glenn McGrath cited the example of England and Australian players calling each other by nicknames to explain his point.
“Every time you hear one of the English or Australian players interviewed, they use a nickname. Broady, Jimmy, Kez. I was asking the other day, ‘Who’s Kez?’ ‘Oh, Alex Carey.’ They’re a lot more familiar with each other than we were when I played.”
Earlier this week, England suffered a humiliating 275-run defeat in the Adelaide Test to concede a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series.
After the loss, Joe Root and his men were seen chatting around nicely with the Australian players and McGrath feels IPL and Big Bash have continued massively in the bromance between cricketers.
“It’s all about body language. How much does it mean, representing your country? England have to go back to the drawing board and have a real good think about this.”
“With the IPL and the Big Bash, these players know one another well. You see batsmen and bowlers joking around. I’d like to see some emotion out in the middle,” he said.
“I’d love there to be more of a battle. Australia aren’t going to take their foot off the throttle, now that they have Pat Cummins coming back. James Anderson looks like he’s down on pace, and the ball’s not swinging. This could get pretty ugly very quickly.”
McGrath urged the visitors to be more aggressive by including speedster Mark Wood in the playing XI.
“If you’ve got someone bowling over 150 km/h, you want to play him as often as you can. Ben Stokes hasn’t looked good, so for him to come out in Adelaide and play the enforcer role was a big ask. They needed Wood. Any bowler with that speed is a rarity. Look at what Jofra Archer did to Australia in 2019. Not to use an out-and-out quick on a deck like Adelaide is surprising.”
“Ollie Robinson will take wickets, but he’s not going to blast teams out, especially in Australian conditions.”
“……To turn things around they have to be much more aggressive. For all of us, the Ashes is the ultimate. All we want is to see a battle that’s close.”
(With Reuters inputs)
