Alison Mitchell: England's style is glorious – but they need Ashes win against Australia
BBC Test Match Special commentator Alison Mitchell is enjoying England's entertaining style, but wonders how long public favour will last if they fail to beat Australia at Lord's.
Alison Mitchell is relishing the full-throttle style of the England Test team – but wonders how long the good favour will last if they fail to topple Australia in upcoming matches.
The BBC Test Match Special commentator believes Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have developed a remarkable philosophy towards playing the game, but is well aware that they need to deliver a clinical victory over the visitors to avoid the feel-good factor turning sour.
RadioTimes.com caught up with Mitchell ahead of the 2nd Test of the Ashes series at Lord's, with Australia sitting 1-0 up after victory by two wickets at Edgbaston last week.
She said: "England know they're up against it. The interesting thing for me is: if England lose again and go two-nil down, how much longer can you be popular for your brand of cricket if you're not actually beating the Aussies?
"Ultimately, it's an Ashes series and people do want to win. Yes, they want to be entertained but there were quite a few downcast England fans leaving Edgbaston that day because, ultimately, it is the Ashes, and they really want to beat Australia. It's not quite the same as losing a tight encounter against New Zealand and in a two-Test series. But it is a five Test series, so there is plenty of time for England to come back.
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"I wasn't surprised by England's approach. We had conversations in the commentary box towards the end of that first innings as to whether Ben [Stokes] might declare, but framed mostly around: 'Well, if Root gets out...', then we're sure he would declare. But he declared on Joe Root, and Root was honest enough to admit that he was a little surprised by that.
"Ben went on to qualify why, there were reasonings as to why you declare at that time of night, you take your opposition by surprise, you ask the openers to bat for an awkward 20-minute period at the end of the day, they might not have been expecting it, so they're suddenly in a rush and in a bit of a panic.
"That's part of what this approach does that Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are taking, to do the unexpected. It's throwing the conventions of Test cricket up in the air. You're surprised, but you're sort of not surprised because you know to expect the unexpected with this England team. That's the glorious part of it. Everyone in the stands, in the commentary boxes, is wondering what on earth is going to happen next - that is the beauty of what is really enlivening this period of Test cricket for the England team."
Mitchell continued: "It's amazing isn't it? That after the last Ashes it was all about, you know, rip up English cricket, it needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom and actually, it needed a change of mindset and a new captain and a new coach, but largely the personnel are the same.
Test Match Special sets new record
There was record breaking digital demand for Test Match Special (TMS) coverage across the BBC, with Tuesday’s final day of the first Test giving BBC Sounds its biggest day yet, with unprecedented figures for hours listened and signed in accounts.
There were just under six million requests across BBC Sounds and BBC Sport (online and app) across the five-day Test with huge numbers especially tuning in on the last two days of play (19-20th June).
"I've spent a lot of time in Australia since the last Ashes – I work in Australia in the winter – so I've been watching the Australians watch the England team from afar, particularly the Pakistan tour and the New Zealand tour of late. They've been well aware of what the English have been doing, so this hasn't really come as a shock to them. I think they have been prepared for the unexpected as well."
Mitchell also shared that her family is a divided camp when it comes to the Ashes, with English and Australian relatives all scrambling to get their hands on an urn of their own.
She said: "My family WhatsApp groups were going bonkers at that stage because my dad's English [and] my mum's an Aussie, so I grew up in an Ashes household!
"We've got loads of relatives from Australia who are coming over to England over the course of the next few weeks. Already, the WhatsApp groups from this side of the world to that side of the world have been really buzzing and that's awesome.
"My uncle has a replica Ashes urn he bought in the Lord's shop many years ago. He and my dad have always had like a mock handing-over ceremony to each, depending on which country holds the Ashes at any one time, so I had to ask my uncle [to] check that he's putting the urn in his suitcase when he comes to England, because there might well need to be a handing over ceremony..."
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The Ashes 2nd Test begins on Wednesday 28th June live on Test Match Special via Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.
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