In a recent tweet, former Australian spinner Brad Hogg expressed his belief that England should alter their strategy in the second Ashes Test, taking advantage of Nathan Lyon’s injury. Lyon, who has been the leading wicket-taker in the World Test Championship cycle, left the field with a calf injury during the 37th over at Lord’s. At that time, England was in a favorable position with a score of 184/1. However, following Lyon’s departure, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root were dismissed while attempting to take on short balls, resulting in the score standing at 278/4 by the end of the day’s play.
During the post-day presentation, Steve Smith hinted that Lyon’s return to bowling in the Test was unlikely. Taking note of this, Hogg emphasized in his tweet, “No Lyon.” He suggested that England now had an opportunity to gain the upper hand against Australia by adopting a different approach, focusing on batting for an extended period and wearing down the pace attack, rather than continuing with their usual aggressive batting style, referred to as “Bazball.” Hogg further pointed out that seizing such opportunities is crucial for setting up the remainder of the Test match and the series as a whole. His tweet was accompanied by the hashtags #Ashes and #ENGvsAUS.
