Matthew Hayden has a clear idea of England and how it will operate under the reign of Stephen Fleming. There has been one question since the new head coach’s appointment. Will the pragmatic coach abandon the Bazball?
What Did Matthew Hayden Say About Stephen Fleming?
Hayden, appearing on Wisden Cricket’s YT channel, explained how Fleming wouldn’t tear apart Brendon McCullum’s blueprint. So, what could happen? Harnessing all the chaos.
“What I will say about, you know, Flemo is that having worked with him, played with him, and worked with him at CSK is that what he won’t do is throw Brendon McCullum’s Bazball under the bus,” Hayden said.
High-risk cricket but with a logical bend.
“He’ll take all the good things that that system of play promoted, which at the time I thought was really, really good for English cricket,” Hayden noted. “You know, playing with a bit more freedom. Being a little more expressive.
“Things that, notoriously, England as a cricketing fraternity haven’t necessarily expressed. Like when you think back to time of someone like Ian Botham, and why he was so pivotal to English cricket is that he finally got English cricket built on the principle of aura and presence.”
According to the Australian legend, Fleming’s real genius won’t lie in curbing that natural aggression. But in giving it a brain. Already evident in the Three Lions’ total domination of Pakistan. A 2-0 humbling experience.
The sample size is small. But the signs are already visible.
“So he’ll take that, and he’ll refine it, and he’ll actually put some cricketing intellectual property around it,” Hayden concluded.
If Hayden’s assessment hits the mark, English fans might just get the best of both worlds. All the entertainment, minus the self-destruction.
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