(Reuters) – England need to remain positive and make some adjustments to their aggressive style of play in test cricket following their 4-1 series defeat in India this month, opener Zak Crawley said.
India won the series despite losing the first test, with their dominance in the series subjecting the visitors’ much-hyped “Bazball” approach to significant scrutiny.
Former England captains including Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton urged the team to temper their strategy laid out for the side by skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.
Asked about England’s approach, Crawley, who scored 407 runs in the series, told reporters: “It just needs a bit of refinement. We always talk about absorbing pressure and putting pressure back on.
“The last couple of years we’ve done the putting back on pretty well, and we’ve spoken about maybe picking those moments to absorb at the right times as well. We can certainly refine that. That’s not to say we’re going to get more negative.
“We will still try to play the way we have and try to score quickly, but just pick those moments where they’re on top. We need to make sure we stay positive and don’t let a tough result get in the way of what we’ve done really well over the last couple of years.”
England next return to test action in July against the West Indies, after this year’s Twenty20 World Cup.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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