"Australian cricket can learn a bit from it" - Matthew Hayden on England's 'Bazball' approach

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden believes the national team can learn from England's aggressive gameplay and imbibe it in theirs. Despite a victory in the first Ashes Test, Hayden reckons a few Aussie players must be proactive.

Australia clinched a two-wicket win at Edgbaston, thanks to an unbroken 55-run stand between Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. The tourists, in pursuit of a 281-run target, looked down and out at 227-8, but Cummins struck some lusty blows and hit the winning runs.

Speaking on SENQ Breakfast, Hayden said England's approach might not have paid off at Edgbaston but he believes Australia can learn from it. The Queenslander pointed out that Usman Khawaja, who faced 197 balls for his 65 runs, needed to show the 'Bazball' in himself.

"They will only know one way to play now. Stokes really said it in his press conference as well. ‘Look, we didn’t get that result but that’s not going to stop the way that we want to go about our business.' In fact, I reckon Australian cricket can learn a bit from it."

"Even when I think back to Usman’s second innings - and this is being incredibly critical - but there was a time where he really needed to have a bit of BazBall himself and be inspired by it."

The 51-year-old observed how Cameron Green has the attacking side to his batting but plays quite defensively.

"He was really in a situation where he was locking down the run rate and occupying the crease and then you’ve got a young Cameron Green who was doing the same, trying to find his tempo in Test cricket."

"I know and we’ve seen through his T20 performances that he can be an absolute rockstar in terms of the way that he plays."

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"He’s going to have some work to do on that BazBall mentality" - Matthew Hayden on Marnus Labuschagne

Stuart Broad dismissed Marnus Labuschagne twice. (Credits: Getty)

Hayden conceded that David Warner and Alex Carey looked promising at Edgbaston, but that he wanted Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to shed their overly defensive approach. He added:

"Some of the senior players - Davey Warner a big tick, just his attitude, the way that he was in to the ball, good body language. Alex Carey had a fantastic game, Marnus Labuschagne at the moment does look like he’s really caught on the crease so he’s going to have some work to do on that BazBall mentality."

"I think ‘Smudgey’ Smith is also a bit the same. He was fantastic through certain periods of the World Test Championship, but those two key players for us can get a little defensive."

Smith and Labuschagne failed in both innings at Edgbaston and will be keen to come good in the second Test at the Lord's.