‘Baz Bawl’: Australian media stoke Ashes rivalry with welcome for England’s Stokes

Captain labelled a ‘Cocky Complainer’ on arrival in PerthArticle critical of Stokes and McCullum’s positive tacticsAustralian media gave Ben Stokes a scathing welcome to the country in the buildup to the Ashes. A picture of the England captain pushing a trolley laden with luggage at the airport was accompanied by the headline “Baz Bawl” on the front page of the West Australian newspaper.“England’s Cocky Captain Complainer, still smarting from ‘crease-gate’ lands in Perth early thinking dopey “BazBall’ can take the Ashes,” read the subhead in reference to an incident in the last series when Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped. The article went on to criticise England’s tactics under Stokes and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, describing it as “carefree and careless thrash batting”. Continue reading...