‘A field for TV rather than one to actually get any wicket’ – Sunil Gavaskar slams England’s Brumbrella fielding from Edgbaston Test

England field set up (Photo Source: Twitter)

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed England’s peculiar fielding approach during the first Ashes Test at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. Notably, Ben Stokes-led England narrowly lost the first Test, which handed a 1-0 lead to Australia in the five-match series.

During the enthralling clash, from declaring on the first day to skipper Stokes employing a unique fielding approach during the Australian batting innings, fans witnessed quite a few intriguing moves adopted by the Three Lions.

For the unversed, England put a unique umbrella-like setup on the field, so as to dismiss Usman Khawaja on Day 3 of the first Test. Dubbed ‘Brumbrella’, Stokes garnered massive attention for the bizarre field setup. However, India great Gavaskar did not seem to be happy with the move as he stated that such a setup was one for the ‘television’ and not to get any wicket.

“The Ashes series in England seems to have caught the imagination of the cricketing public there. England are batting with a freedom that has not been seen before and more shots, both orthodox and unorthodox are being played under the regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum than before the duo took over. That’s where Bazball stops,” Gavaskar wrote in his recent column for ‘Mid-Day’.

“While bowling England are not doing anything different from earlier times. Yes, the field placements have been novel, with three men in catching positions on both sides of the wicket. Two fielders on either side of the pitch have been seen before and on air. I have called it a field for TV rather than one to actually get any wicket,” he added.

In normal positions England could have pouched catches easily: Gavaskar

Notably, England dropped quite a few chances during the contest upon which Gavaskar opined that the side could have pouched them comfortably, had they been in their normal positions.

“If anything, the few missed opportunities England had could have been easily pouched if these same fielders had been five to 10 paces back in the normal fielding positions. Upfront and that close the fielders had very little time to react to those hard, but uppish pulls, and so could barely get their hands to the catches,” he added.