England’s declaration after 78 overs on day one divides cricket world

England’s brazen style of play is taking cricket by storm, but one key decision has left serious question marks hanging overhead.

England haven’t been playing ordinary Test cricket for a while now and they continued that with a wild opening day at Edgaston against Australia.

The Ashes opener had it all on the first day as the home nation plundered the Aussie bowling attack to all parts of the ground.

Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

But while their attacking style of play had the cricket world eagerly watching every single delivery, it was their decision late in the day that divided opinions.

With Joe Root looking in ominous touch and Ollie Robinson swinging the willow at the other end, the score looked poised to head well north of 400.

Skipper Ben Stokes had other ideas as he waved them in and put an end to the first innings with the score at 8/393.

The declaration came after only 78 overs making it the earliest declaration in the first innings of an Ashes Test in history.

It forced Australia to face four overs late in the day’s play with David Warner and Usman Khawaja surviving and leaving the opening Test hanging in the balance.

Stokes’ decision to call off the innings early left the cricket world split down the middle.

Wrong or right decision? (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“It’s a bold call (to declare), it’s a good call,” Jonny Bairstow said on Sky Sports.

“There will be conversations around it, but no-one likes going out there with 20 minutes and four overs, when you’ve got Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson running in at the end of a day that has been a bit of a toil.”

England icon Sir Geoffrey Boycott wrote: “Brave but now they have to make it work.”

SEN producer John Donohoe wrote: “Outrageous Declaration – love everything about it!

England making a game of things, they take the game on at all costs. The Ashes is on, and it is beautiful!”

Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor told Wide World of Sports: “You’ve got to say full marks to Ben Stokes because he’s always looking to keep the game moving.

“That little declaration at the end of the day, now it didn’t work, but that has set the tone for the series.

“For him, an extra 20-30 runs against a second new ball, was it worth as much as maybe getting Khawaja or Warner? That’s the way he thinks.

“He’s looking to keep Australia under pressure all the time and I think if he keeps doing that we’re in for a very good series.”

Ben Stokes and surprises. One this pitch, you feel ENG need more runs, but he declares. It is still day one, boss.

And then doesn't give Anderson the new ball. I know Broad has a great record v Warner. But Anderson has done well v lefties too - over and round the wicket.…

— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) June 16, 2023

Was worried about the Root-Robinson partnership. Both were looking well in control. Audacious declaration to get some overs in, but England could have got 450.#Asheshttps://t.co/ggqXnJcaOw

— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) June 16, 2023

Stokes declaration gamble fails ❌

Australia holds a slight advantage after day 1.#Ashes

— Menners 🎙 (@amenners) June 16, 2023

Senseless declaration from @benstokes38. It’s Australia’s game to lose from here! Have a great pitch to bat on days 2 and 3, then bring Lyon to do his thing. #Ashes2023#AUSvENG#Ashes

— Mudassir Ehsan (@mudassirehsan) June 16, 2023

England’s Bazball style was all the talk coming into the Ashes series and they showed their intent from the outset as opener Zac Crawley smashed Pat Cummins’ very first delivery to the boundary.

“Well there’s the first question answered,” Ricky Ponting said in commentary for Channel 9. “What a shot that was.”

Despite England’s dominance with the bat in hand the key question that will remain until the first Test is decided is; had England scored enough?

Late in the day The CricViz analyst tweeted “the average lateral movement (seam+swing) of 0.89 degrees on offer for the pace bowlers was the lowest recorded in England since records began in 2006”.

Opening duo Khawaja (four not out) and Warner (eight not out) couldn’t have asked for a friendlier pitch to begin their campaigns and Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will hope to bat all day when day two gets underway.

Originally published as England’s declaration after 78 overs on day one divides cricket world