BIRMINGHAM, England: Sitting on the balcony outside England’s dressing room, even Ben Stokes looked surprised when Zak Crawley hammered the first ball of the Ashes series through the covers for four.
A few hours later, Joe Root had the audacity to reverse-ramp Australia pace bowler Scott Boland over the boundary. Then Moeen Ali flicked Pat Cummins for six off his hips.
Root repeated his trick shot for another six against Cummins. England stayed true to their ‘Bazball’ approach on Friday and underlined their confidence by daring to declare at 393-8 after Root’s 30th Test century on a rousing opening day at Edgbaston.
In the four overs England gave themselvves for a probing bowl, Australia went 14 without loss by stumps and opener David Warner survived his Test nemesis Stuart Broad, who opened the attack.