Home Cricket Facts “They played too aggressively in Australia”: Darren Lehmann backs England to dominate Tests

“They played too aggressively in Australia”: Darren Lehmann backs England to dominate Tests

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“They played too aggressively in Australia”: Darren Lehmann backs England to dominate Tests


Former Australia cricketer and Northamptonshire head coach Darren Lehmann believes England are well positioned to respond strongly in the upcoming home Test season against New Zealand starting in June 2026. They will play a total of 3 games at home.
Despite performing poorly in the last Ashes series, Lehmann backs England as favorites to win. In the Ashes, they faced a humiliating defeat by losing 4 games out of 5, which became a big topic of discussion for the England and Wales Cricket Board over the players’ performance, form and strategy.
Lehmann believes they will ‘play exciting cricket’

Going further, the former Australian cricketer said that England will dominate in the upcoming home Test series against the Kiwis.

“They will play exciting cricket. They will score points quickly. The wickets will be flat. They will oscillate between the two styles,” said Lehmann, speaking to BBC looks east.

“They played too aggressively in Australia. The problem is when the wicket does something. “They will rethink how they want to play at different stages, making sure they are prepared as best as they can,” he added.

Darren Lehmann asks: “Has the England team returned to their old strategy?”

England has been known for its aggressive style of play, often referred to as Bazball in international cricket. They adopted this style to dominate the bowlers and keep scoring runs on the side. This aggressive style of play has even won several important matches in international cricket.

However, with series against New Zealand and Pakistan on the horizon, crucial to their ICC World Test Championship campaignLehmann expects England to return to its offensive best.

Darren Lehmann: Wasn’t playing red-ball cricket the reason behind the poor performance in the Ashes?

In the last Ashes, England faced a humiliating defeat against Australia, where they won only 1 of 5 matches after losing 3 consecutive matches in the series. However, Darren Lehmann believes that not playing enough Test cricket before the start of the series was the main reason behind England’s performance.

“If they had played those first two Shield games before the first two Tests, and then they had played the two Tests in a row, they actually needed a week off,” he said.

“It’s more about preparation for the Ashes, where they didn’t play any county cricket at the end of the summer and then they played a one-day series before the Ashes, where they could have played an extra first-class game and that’s probably where it went wrong.”

Darren Lehmann calls for greater discipline and planning

Ahead of the start of the series, Lehmann calls for greater discipline and planning for the English cricket team, as he looks at the major upcoming series aligned with the ICC World Test Championship.

Darren Lehmann highlighted that greater clarity and discipline in planning would be essential moving forward. He stressed that in a high-stakes environment like the WTC, where every point can determine a finalist, there is no room for tactical ambiguity. For England to maintain their competitive advantage, they must refine their approach to suit specific conditions and opponents rather than relying solely on intent.

With a busy schedule that includes New Zealand and Pakistan, the margin for error is small. Darren Lehmann believes the decisive factor will be a more diligent preparation phase, focused on session-by-session execution and a clearer understanding of individual roles.

“They just need to be a little more diligent in their preparation, in what they’re trying to do and how they want to play,” Lehmann said.

England begins the summer test against New Zealand starting June 4, followed by a series with Pakistan in August and September.