Sangakkara: Bazball can bring joyous expression to Ashes series
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakarra insists the Ashes still brings out the best in Test cricket and believes Bazball has restored “joyous expression” to the five-day game.
The former wicket keeper-batsman scored over 12,000 Test runs for his country and was captain in all three formats. A connoisseur of the game, Sangakkara still recognises the Ashes, which starts on Friday, as iconic.
“The Ashes are exciting for cricket fans around the world,” he tells Morning Wire “It’s the history and tradition of the legacy of the Ashes.
Sangakkara: Ashes pinnacle of quality
“I’ve been playing for Sri Lanka for all of my life and commentating on the Ashes and World Championships. It doesn’t matter where you are, you always follow the Ashes with interest because of the quality of cricket and the quality of players. The contest brings out the best in Test cricket.”
As director of cricket at Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals, Sangakkara got a good look at England head coach Brendon McCullum from his time at the Kolkata Knight Riders.
McCullum was synonymous with white-ball cricket so his move to the Test match format surprised many, but not Sri Lankan legend Sangakkara.
“I don’t think I had the skill-set to be in a Bazball team but the new innovations in Twenty20 cricket have helped cricketers open their minds to what is possible,” he says.
“Brendon McCullum, when he came from the IPL as head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, didn’t come and ask for the white-ball job [with England].
“There’s room for much more revolutionary tactics and innovation in Test cricket, it’s almost a blank canvas.
“He’s taken it to new heights and made it a free-flowing, attractive, joyous kind of expression of all formats of the game which you never thought you’d see on a Test pitch.”
Captain’s advice?
Sangakkara has captained his nation in World Cup finals and crunch Test matches, but every leader is different. England captain Ben Stokes has also led in World Cup finals, but never an Ashes series. Cummins, too, is new as captain to the iconic rivalry.
“I don’t have any advice for [Stokes and Cummins]. Even if I did, I doubt either will take it,” adds Sangakkara, co-founder of sports game Meta 11’s maker Behaviol.
“They’re both secure in the way they captain. Stokes is very player-centric, people-centric. Skill is a given. They don’t concentrate a lot on technique, they’ll talk about being a team, the team above everyone else.
“Cummins is a bowling captain, and how that influences his decision making in terms of will they bowl first, what will the pitches be like and will he bowl himself enough and really have the same attacking field like Stokes might have.
“Stokes will lead from the front and he will try and inspire the rest to follow. I don’t think that’s hard because he’s already inspired them through a whole year. The Ashes is inspiring enough. It’ll be a great contest.”