Nathan Lyon gives his verdict on ‘Bazball’

AUSTRALIAN spinner

Nathan Lyon has said that he "didn’t really see BazBall" during the two Tests he played against England in Ashes 2023.

Lyon played the first two Tests of the thrilling Ashes series — at Edgbaston and Lord’s — before a calf injury ruled him out.

The spinner was brutal in his assessment of England's style of play under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, fa - mously dubbed 'Bazball', and played down the hype around it.

“I know everyone keeps talking about BazBall, to be honest, I didn’t really see BazBall… throughout my two Tests against them,” Lyon told SEN Cricket.

The Australian said that the aggressive brand of batting deployed by England should be complemented by the flexibility to change gears when needed.

"I’m 2-0 in my Tests against BazBall," Lyon said, reminding that Aus- tralia did not lose both Tests he featured in during the Ashes.

"I look at the Australian cricket team and the batters we’ve had, David Warner for example. I’ve seen him score hundreds in a session and that’s off playing an attacking brand of cricket.

"I think there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors with BazBall, if I’m being honest with you, and I feel like if you’re going to play an aggressive brand of cricket anyway, it’s about being able to go up and down in gears and understanding the moments in the game."

Australia won both games in which Lyon played while losing two and drawing one in the last three matches of the series

The off-spinner, who turns 36 this year, did not rule out the possibility of returning to England in 2027 for another Ashes series, stating that his "hunger for the game has probably gone to a new level" after some time away due to injury.

"I'll tell you one thing, I’m definitely not joking about going back to the Ashes,” Lyon said.

"I’m definitely not writing off going back to England for the Ashes… the finish line for me hasn’t even popped up in my eyesight yet, I’ve still got a lot of cricket left in me in my eyes."(ICC. com)

Japan beat Norway to reach World Cup quarter-finals

JAPAN took a step closer to a second Women's World Cup title when they beat Norway to reach the quarter-finals.

The 2011 champions made the ideal start when Norway defender Ingrid Engen turned Hinata Miyazawa's cross into her own net.

However, Norway equalised a few minutes later when Guro Reiten headed home.

Risa Shimizu's heavily defected strike restored Japan's lead before Hinata Miyazawa raced through to score a third and seal her side's progress.

The goal cemented Japan's place in the quarter-finals and kept Miyazawa on target for the Golden Boot - she leads the scoring charts in Australia and New

Zealand on five.

"I am really happy to have scored the goal but it is because all of the team worked for that," she said.

"I want to score more."

Norway were second best for much of the game but almost set up an exciting finish when goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita superbly kept out Karina Saevik's bullet header.

Japan will play either defending champions the United States or Sweden in the last eight.

"The team is very positive, kept up the pace and I think we have become tougher than before," Japan coach Futoshi Ikeda said.

Slick Japan keep on rolling

Japan are seeking their first Women's World Cup title in 12 years and they have barely put a foot wrong at this tournament. They breezed through the group stage without dropping a point, including an eye-catching 4-0 win against fellow quarter-finalists Spain in their final group game.

In that game they played devastating counter-attacking football - winning despite having just 23% possession to show they can dig in and grind out victory against a tough opponent.

Reiten's goal is the first they have conceded at this

World Cup but apart from that header they once again delivered a strong defensive display.

On the rare occasion their defence was beaten, Yamashita was there to make an incredible save.

Toothless Norway pay the price

Norway were hoping to reach the quarter-finals of a Women's World Cup for a second successive tournament - but in truth they have been out of sorts in 2023.

The 6-0 victory against the Philippines in their final group fixture ended a run of six games without a win and Japan were always going to provide a sterner test.

Norway's cause at this tournament has not been helped by an injury to star forward Ada Hegerberg, who had not played since the 1-0 loss to New Zealand in their opening fixture prior to taking a place on the bench in Saturday's game.

She came on with 16 minutes remaining in the last-16 game but could not affect the outcome.

It is unlikely that even a fully fit Hegerberg could have changed much against Japan, who had their opponents pegged back inside their own half for almost all of the second half.

"Credit to Japan for how they played and how they broke us down," said coach Hege Riise.

"We were solid in defence at times, but not quite good enough."