The ‘mentally’ weak English would need to overcome two fatal flaws to win the upcoming Ashes.
Australian cricket great Glenn McGrath says the self-absorption with which England play their cricket is “rubbish”.
Under the leadership axis of coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, the English men’s Test team have adopted the brash and uber-aggressive game style that the cricket world has come to know as Bazball.
At times, it has been devastatingly effective. After McCullum was appointed in 2022, England won seven Tests in a row, including becoming the first team to clean sweep a three-match series in Pakistan, and did so with record-shattering run-rates.
But on balance, they’ve finished fifth and fourth in the past two World Test Championship tables respectively, they’ve won 14 of their past 28 Tests, and just five of their past 15 against fellow ‘Big Three’ nations India and Australia — 10 of which were on home soil.
Objectively, they read as the stats of an average Test cricket team. Certainly not one worth a chapter in the history books of the game.
And yet, it remains without doubt that England — with stars like Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer — can produce extraordinary, match-winning acts of brilliance which really do live on in the memory.
McGrath played in Australia’s most successful men’s team in history during the late 1990s and early 2000s. With Shane Warne, he formed arguably the greatest one-two bowling punch the game has ever seen.
Under the captaincy of Steve Waugh first, and then Ricky Ponting later, the unstoppable Aussies twice won 16 consecutive Tests — once between 1999-2001, and then again between 2005-2008. It’s a joint record that no team may ever come close to again.
Those teams were as aggressive as any — but the difference between them and the current-day England team, McGrath says, was the accountability with which Australia’s game was grounded.
“I like the concept of Bazball,” McGrath, who is a Toyota ambassador for the upcoming summer of cricket, told 7NEWS.com.au.
“The way England play, they either play incredibly well or they’re just s***.
“The thing with Bazball is, I like it when players go out and back themselves and play without fear. But they’re also saying, ‘There’s no pressure. If you get out playing a bad shot at the wrong time, you’re not going to be penalised for it’, so there’s no accountability, which I think is rubbish.
“The great players play under that pressure — but have accountability, and they play without fear.
“To go out and say, ‘Oh no, just play how you want, no pressure’, trying to take pressure off, I think is definitely the wrong way to go. That’s where you’re going to get a lot of average performances because they’re not as mentally tough as they should be. That’s my view on it.
“That team I played in in the late 90s, early 2000s, we played a similar brand of cricket, but we loved the pressure, and that’s when the best came out in us. We had that accountability.
“That’s the difference. Bazball’s great, but instead of trying to get rid of pressure, enjoy it and absorb it and go out and play without fear, instead of trying to play without pressure.
“That’s my look on it. If they could do that, they could do anything.”
After Australia beat England in the thrilling first Test at Edgbaston to go 1-0 up in the 2023 away Ashes series, you’d be forgiven for thinking in the aftermath that in fact it was the English who won the game, such was the hosts’ hubris.
Immediately after the game, McCullum told the players: “Lads, I’m immensely proud of the efforts that you’ve put in, we’ve made the game what it was.
“We were so close to pulling off an unbelievable victory. We played all the cricket in the game. If it wasn’t for us, the Australians wouldn’t have even had a chance to win. It feels like we’ve won, lads.”
Two days after the game, fast bowler Ollie Robinson wrote an article for Wisden which, at best, was a gaslit stretch of the truth, and at worst, was bordering on delusion.
“It’s about more than just winning a Test match,” he wrote after the loss.
“Because at the end of the day, stats are forgotten. It’s more than that. We’re trying to create memories and be that team that everyone still speaks about in 20-30 years’ time.
“We were surprised by how defensive Australia were and how unwilling they were to go toe-to-toe with us.
“Of course it sounds weird because they won it, but I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play.”
Robinson hasn’t played for England since being dropped nearly two years ago.
Australia took the same calculated approach to the second Test at Lord’s and won, going 2-0 up in the series.
England played the better cricket thereafter though and, if not for a rain-soaked fourth Test at Manchester, would have almost certainly won the series 3-2 and regained the Ashes urn.
After that fourth Test, Stokes told his players that regardless of the scoreline, they had already transcended the sport.
“The reward for our work isn’t what we get but what we become,” he said during a rallying speech in the Old Trafford dressing room.
“And what we have managed to do is we’ve managed to become a sports team that will live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness us play cricket.
“I know it’s going to be a bit flat, I know it’s going to hurt that we go into the next game (at The Oval) not being able to get the urn back.
“But what we have done is something a lot bigger than any Ashes trophy could ever signify for this team — be the team that everybody will always remember.”
McGrath’s iconic team actually does live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness them play cricket. Which is because they won games of cricket.
He says it’s not for Stokes and his teammates to be the arbiters of the game’s folklore.
“My only other issue with that is the people talking up Bazball and their performances are themselves, which is rubbish,” he said.
“It’s not up to the current players to judge how they’re going; ‘Oh, we’re setting a new standard in the game, oh we’re so entertaining’ — that’s all bulls***.
“It’s about the public and your peers saying that.”
England’s current side is now just seven days away from what McCullum has dubbed “the biggest series of all of our lives”.
Under the Stokes-McCullum regime, England have openly said for several years now that they have purpose-built their team and structured their program specifically to win the Ashes in Australia over these next seven weeks.
England are 0-13 in their past 15 Test matches on Australian soil. They haven’t won a red-ball game Down Under since 2011.
When the visitors last tasted victory down here, Ben Stokes was still a teenager and Usman Khawaja, who is closing in on 39, made his debut.
If they are to overturn 15 years of grim history in Australia, England would do well to take a leaf out of the book of their opponents’ history.
“I think Baz is a great guy. Whether that’s the way he played, I don’t know how he handled pressure,” McGrath said.
“But your great players handle pressure and look forward to pressure, and that’s the difference.
“If they could just change that attitude a little bit, I think they’d do a lot better. You can’t just go out and be world-beaters one week and play absolute garbage the next.
“Even the team that I was lucky enough to play in, we didn’t come out and say that. We didn’t even consider that we’d be selected for the next game. It was just about performing at our best, at our peak.
“We didn’t own that position in the team, but we had that respect for it and just backed ourselves.
“I always felt if we played as well as we could, no one could beat us. And it was that attitude, that aura, that you create around the team by the way other people view you, not how you view yourself internally.”
“We’ve got to be better, plain and simple. There’s no excuse for where we are right now. We need to hold ourselves accountable and make the necessary changes, because this isn’t acceptable.” — Alex Tuch, Buffalo Sabres Forward
Buffalo Sabres fans, brace yourselves: change is coming. After yet another brutal defeat — a 5-2 loss to Utah followed by a 6-2 drubbing by the Colorado Avalanche — it’s clear that this team is nowhere near the contender they were supposed to be this season. And for fans who’ve waited 14 years for a playoff spot, the latest string of losses is a hard pill to swallow. With Buffalo’s record now at a dismal 5-8-4, and eight losses in the past nine games, it’s evident: major changes are coming to Buffalo.
Sabres in Crisis Mode: A Season on the Brink
The loss to the Avalanche capped off a disastrous five-game losing streak, with four of those losses coming in regulation. The Sabres’ defense is porous, their goaltending unreliable, and their offense is sputtering with little consistency. While Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin continue to show flashes of brilliance, the rest of the roster simply isn’t pulling its weight. As Alex Tuch himself said, “We’ve got to be better, plain and simple.”
The truth is, the Sabres have been in this situation for far too long. The fans are fed up, and even the players are starting to admit what’s been painfully obvious: the current roster and management just aren’t cutting it.
The End of the Line for Adams and Ruff?
At this point, there is no denying that accountability must fall on both GM Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff. The Sabres have shown no meaningful improvement under their leadership, and this latest collapse only reinforces the fact that change is overdue. Adams and Ruff have had more than enough time to get the job done, but after so many failed seasons, it’s clear that the status quo is no longer an option for Buffalo.
As Tuch stated, “There’s no excuse for where we are right now.” The Sabres have been left behind in a rapidly advancing NHL, and with another playoff-less season on the horizon, it’s time for ownership to act.
The Roster Shake-Up: Who’s Safe and Who’s Not?
But it’s not just the front office and coaching staff that needs to change. With this current Sabres team showing no signs of getting it together, nearly every player on the roster is at risk. Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin are the clear exceptions, both standing out as cornerstones of the franchise. But for everyone else, it’s now or never. No one’s job is safe, especially after this latest stretch of embarrassment.
The Sabres need to shed their past — and that means moving out players who aren’t contributing to the rebuild. It’s a painful reality, but every player needs to be held accountable for this team’s continued failure. It’s no longer about potential or promises — it’s about delivering results, and if you’re not part of the solution, you’ll be part of the problem.
Buffalo’s Road to Redemption: How to Fix the Sabres?
So, what now for Buffalo? The road to redemption starts with tough decisions. Kevyn Adams will need to make bold moves to reshape the roster, bringing in fresh talent to bolster the lineup. The Sabres’ defense needs a complete overhaul, and the goaltending situation is looking more desperate by the day. The team can no longer afford to let mediocrity slip by — it’s time to build a playoff-caliber team, and the clock is ticking.
This won’t be an easy fix, but with the right moves, Buffalo could finally start to dig itself out of this hole. The fans deserve a competitive team, and the Sabres owe it to themselves to deliver.
Can the Sabres Turn It Around?
There’s no sugar-coating it — the Sabres’ current path is not sustainable. Another year of misery for Buffalo fans will simply not do. As the Sabres face the harsh reality of their worst season in recent memory, one thing is clear: the status quo cannot continue. The front office and coaching staff need to make bold, immediate changes. The future of the Buffalo Sabres depends on it.
The time for change is now — and for the first time in years, it feels like the Sabres have no choice but to start fresh.