ASHES BAZBALL GETS GATTS BUZZIN’

MIKE GATTING does not buy into the belief that Australia will try to fight fire with fire this summer – and bid to ‘out-bazball’ Ben Stokes’ men.

Instead, the England legend expects the tourists will stick with the recipe which has seen them lose just one of the past five Ashes campaigns.

England captain Stokes (right) has already thrown down the gauntlet to the Baggy Greens by outlining his desire to continue with the same ultra-attacking, aggressive ‘Bazball’ cricket developed by coach Brendon ‘Baz’ Mccullum, which has seen England win 10 of their past 12 Test matches.

But Gatting said: “I don’t expect the Aussies to do anything different from what they have in the past. They have been so successful with their own special way of going about it on the field, so they will see no reason to change.

“Australia will play to win, not to entertain. They play hard and don’t take chances.

“But the Test players England have at the moment are outstanding, some of the best we’ve seen for a long time. Very talented.

“This winter I watched them annihilate New Zealand at Mount Maunganui, then come back to Wellington and lose by just one run, with Joe Root and Stokes fighting hard for a long time. “There are times when you will need to do that, especially in an Ashes when the level of performance required is high all the time. “But the wonderful thing is that T20 is being incorporated into Test cricket. They play more shots and know when they need to take the game away from the opposition.”

Gatting added: “Australia have some good players too – but having seen our guys close up, they are clearly a very talented group with some outstanding batsmen.

“I just hope we find the right time to attack and the right time to defend. It is going to be an excellent summer.”