The highly-anticipated 2023 Ashes series between England and Australia got underway on Friday (June 16) at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Before the series, there were plenty of discussions about whether England would continue with their ultra-aggressive approach against a fearsome Australian bowling attack or not.

As it turned out, the hosts did bat aggressively right from the first ball of the match. Moreover, skipper Ben Stokes shocked one and all by declaring England’s first innings at 393/8 with 12 overs left in the day.

England football coach Gareth Southgate, who is a self-proclaimed cricket fan, called it an interesting decision while also adding that the home team has given an indication about their approach in the Ashes with this declaration.

“I’m a big cricket fan and it’s something that is hugely exciting to watch at the moment. Their (England) mindset has been a big thing, but they’ve (Australia) also got a lot of world-class players. We’ve got quite a few players I think would get in a World XI. So, the standard is also very good, but there’s definitely been this shift in how they’re playing,” Southgate said in a press conference.

“I would imagine this is the first team in my lifetime to declare at 393/8 on Day 1. That will be an interesting decision because in the end people will judge on the outcome as they do, the decisions you make as a coach. But that’s a clue as to the mindset they’re going into the series with,” he added.

Coming to the Edgbaston Test, David Warner and Usman Khawaja negotiated the four overs safely as Australia were 14/0 when play was called off on the opening day.

The tourists scored 311/5 at the close of play on Day 2, trailing England by 82 runs in the first innings with Usman Khawaja (126*) and Alex Carey (52*) unbeaten in the middle.

Stuart Broad (2-49), Moeen Ali (2-124) and Ben Stokes (1-33) were among the wickets for England.