Former England captain Nasser Hussain has issued a staunch defence of 'Bazball' following the thrilling one-run defeat to New Zealand in Wellington.
In the aftermath of the loss, England have been widely lauded for their involvement in of the greatest Test matches of all-time. However, some have questioned whether their positive and aggressive approach, which has seen them win ten out 12 Tests, went too far and became reckless.
Captain Ben Stokes' decision to enforce the follow on in particular has been criticised, although Stokes himself has stuck by the call. And Hussain has defended Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, telling fans: "You can't have it both ways".
In a column for the Daily Mail, he said: "Not so long ago, people waking up in the UK to find England had lost a Test by one run would have been looking for a scapegoat. But the overwhelming feeling the morning after the thriller in Wellington was that we had all witnessed something special.
"Occasionally, of course, the way England play under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes will leave the door open for the opposition — whether it is declaring eight down in the first innings, or enforcing the follow-on with plenty of time left in the game.
"But you can't have it both ways. You can't applaud Stokes' boldness on the one hand — as many were after he called his team in at 435 for eight on the second morning — then complain after they have lost by a whisker.
"If England score two more runs, Stokes is a genius. This is just the way it is now, and 10 wins out of 12 tells you it is working.
"In fact, without the mindset that allowed Stokes to declare early, or to put New Zealand in again, we would not have seen this fantastic turnaround. There is a bigger picture here, and fair play to McCullum and Stokes for seeing it.
"It reminds me of Eoin Morgan's approach in the early days of his white-ball revolution in 2015. Occasionally, England would get it wrong, and the critics would tell them to rein it in a bit. But Morgan shut out the noise, and told his team to crack on."
