Follow UsIn the last couple of years since the appointment of Brendon McCullum as the Head Coach of the Test side and Ben Stokes as the captain, England have been a different beast in red-ball cricket.
The team rejigged their style of play after a 0-4 drubbing against Australia in the last Ashes series away from home and a challenging tour against the Windies with a change of guard in the leadership and coaching personnel.
Despite a comprehensive defeat, Stuart Board feels the series cannot be termed as a real Ashes due to the restrictions by covid-19 pandemic.
"Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series, but in my mind, I don't class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is an elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game," Broad quoted in a conversation with Daily Mail.
"Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I've written it off as a void series," he further added.
After enthralling the fans with their style of play in the last 18 months, the biggest challenge for McCullum and Stokes would be the home Ashes series starting on June 16 at Edgbaston.
The 36-year-old has challenged his Aussie counterparts to play a similar brand of cricket and make the game a lot more entertaining for people around the world.
"It would be great for us if Australia try to take us on at our own game. If we can get them playing in a slightly different style, they could make mistakes, and that would be brilliant for us."
"Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are all guys who like to bat time and accumulate. So if we can nibble away at them and just get them thinking, 'Why are we not scoring quicker? Why are we not moving the game forward?'.
"I'd love Smith to dance down the track and sky one to mid-off early doors. That would be classic," he concluded.