Despite losing the Ashes 2023 opener against Australia at Edgbaston, star England batter Joe Root said they will stick to their approach of playing fearless brand of cricket, famously dubbed as the 'Bazball', in the remainder of the Test series.

Before the Ashes series, there were plenty of discussions about whether England would continue with their ultra-aggressive approach, which they have adopted under the leadership of skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

As it turned out, the hosts batted aggressively in both innings and shocked many by declaring their first innings at 393/8 on Day 1.

The decision backfired as England lost the Edgbaston Test by a narrow margin of two wickets to concede a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.

"Naturally, (We are) a little bit disappointed, but as you mention, what a great Test match for 5 days, I think as a team, we played some really exciting cricket and pushed the game hard, pushed Australia hard for all of it. Really, it's a bit disappointing to be on the wrong side of things," Root, who top scored for England in both innings with 118* and 46, told England Cricket after the match.

"I think it's been a really important week for a number of different reasons, we showed how we intend to go out and play and how we backed up (the way) in a big series, even in an Ashes series that we will stay true to how we want to do it. I think that's an exciting prospect for the next 4 games. Anyone coming in to watch the game will be thoroughly entertained. I think they should expect the same in the next 4 games," he added.

The second Ashes Test will be played at Lord’s from June 28 to July 2, and Root said there is no reason for England to hold back.

"Absolutely, we are going to be genuine and authentic to what we say we are about as a team, and that's not going to flip. We are not going to fluctuate. Everybody should strap in because this week showed we are well in this series. There's going to be some brilliant cricket to watch throughout and we want to make sure we are on the right side of it," he remarked.

Chasing 281 to win, Australia were reduced to 227/8. With England inching closer towards victory in the final session, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins was joined by Nathan Lyon in the middle. They had a tough task at hand as the visitors still needed 54 runs to get over the finishing line.

Amid the pressure situation, Cummins struck an unbeaten 44 and was well supported by Nathan Lyon who made 16 not out in an unbroken partnership of 55 runs for the ninth wicket to take Australia home.

While questions have been raised over England's approach, Root said they would have been 1-0 up in the series had they held on to their half-chances.

"I mean, obviously, everyone comes to a Test match to go and win it. But that's not how we judge ourselves as a team. How we judge ourselves is how we go about things and how we play out cricket. We can proudly say that we have done that, we just needed a few things to fall in our favour, few half-chances up, we would found ourseves 1-0 up," Root stated.