They could definitely have played more conservatively at times and I suspect the grounds would have been glad of an extra day of play on many occasions but if they changed style and lost there would still have been critics. I like the positive attitude and entertaining cricket, that's not to say there haven't been moments where players have just played stupid cricket and got out needlessly but that is more to do with poor decisions than the actual ethos.
it wasnt about playing conservatively at times, it was about adapting to conditions and the opposition, there are times to swing the bat hard, there are times when you take stock and think about what you are doing first, thats why its like as Boycott always said Test cricket, because its a real Test not just of your technique, your skill, your bravery but your mental capacity to think across yes possibly 5 days of hard cricket, its not the hit and giggle stuff thats just slam bang done in an afternoon.
and yes that is the ethos of the Stokes era of captaincy, maybe it was Bazball in the beginning but I question how much influence he has over the players anymore as they dont appear to be paying any attention to him, Id like to hope in a few years to come, I read Roots tell all biography who spills actually what the power dynamic among the players v management was as theres clearly been misalignment since before the Ashes, and a completely dysfunctional setup as a result.
as for Key I might well think he is terribly unsuited to the job, but the reality is whoever the ECB picks for it is going to follow the same routes to things, say the same things to the press and generally appear just as disconnected.
