Bullish Ben Stokes reveals England's battle plans for an exhilarating Ashes summer

England's cricketing rivalry with Australia has provoked the occasional four-letter f-word over the past 150 years and that rich linguistic tradition was upheld by Ben Stokes this week.

The England captain told Sky Sports that he wants "fast, flat wickets" at the five venues for this summer's Ashes, which is just the kind of bullish pre-series bulletin we have come to expect as Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum approach the first anniversary of their appointments.

McCullum is not keen on the term 'Bazball' – short-hand for England's thrillingly aggressive approach to Test cricket in the past 12 months – but the success of his side means he is unlikely to shed the buzzword.

After winning six of their seven home Test matches against New Zealand, India and South Africa in 2022, England smashed 506-4 on the first day of December's first Test in Pakistan, going on to record a 3-0 clean sweep.

In February, they thumped New Zealand by 267 runs before suffering an extraordinary one-run defeat in the second game in Wellington. Even when Stokes and McCullum lose, they win more admirers, and it is tempting to imagine their ethos seeping into every nook of English cricket.

England Lions, the ante-room to the Test team, certainly embraced Bazball on their winter tour of Sri Lanka with Surrey wicketkeeper Jamie Smith cracking 126 off 86 balls in one of the unofficial Tests.

But would the influence of the Stokes-McCullum revolution be apparent in the first week of the County Championship season? 

The second round of matches starts on Thursday and early-season county fixtures traditionally involve seamers nibbling the ball past the bat under murky skies while slip fielders who can't quite feel their fingers hope that any edges don't come flying in their direction.

The only whiff of Bazball during the first round of county contests came at Headingley, where Leicestershire chased down 389 to beat Yorkshire, who had scored 518 and 286-8 declared at a rate of 5.15 runs per over.

Elsewhere, ace county seamers Toby Roland-Jones (7-61) and Jamie Porter (6-35) tormented batsmen in Essex's win over Middlesex while classy campaigners Mohammad Abbas and Kyle Abbott shared 14 wickets for Hampshire against Nottinghamshire.

Hampshire have the most dashingly named opening partnership in the competition, with youngsters Felix Organ and Fletcha Middleton at the top of the order, although Middleton displayed more grit than flair in his crucial innings of 59 and 65.

Zak Crawley, one of the poster boys of England's new era, also seemed content to dig in on his return to county action for Kent against Northamptonshire.

Crawley, often criticised for the brevity of his visits to the crease with England, faced 171 balls for his first-innings 91 – an epic effort for a player who has stuck around for 150 or more deliveries in only two of his 61 Test innings.

Perhaps less surprisingly, there was no trace of Bazball at Old Trafford, where Rory Burns and Dom Sibley, two of England's more obdurate recent Test openers, were reunited in Surrey's draw with Lancashire.

Sibley was vilified for his unbeaten 60 off 207 balls against New Zealand at Lord's in June 2021, when England opted to bat out for a draw rather than chase 273 for victory – a target that Stokes's side would probably aim to overhaul inside 30 overs.

Despite a fairly stolid start to the summer of English cricket, the cocktail of Bazball and a home Ashes series remains an intoxicating one. 

By mid-July, no doubt, village-cricket veterans who haven't scored a half-century since 1997 will be attempting to ramp the opposition's fastest bowler for six and the leafy peace of this pleasant land will be shattered by the occasional four-letter f-word.

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