ASHES hero Matthew Hoggard has encouraged England players to be smarter when it comes to “Bazzball” to boost their chances of beating the Aussies.

The former England fast bowler hinted that we could still win the Ashes as he spoke out on the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Champions UK Hoggard said: “Bazzball is running towards the danger instead of away from it. You take the positive option rather than the negative option. I like it but still think we’ve gone too far at times.

“I still think we need to keep it simple and score as many runs as we possibly can. I think we are too caught up on hitting boundaries and scoring big runs rather than taking it to the opposition and grinding them into the dirt.

“Joe Root is a prime example by trying to reverse-sweep the first ball on the fourth day of the last test match. Now Joe is arguably one of the world’s best batters and fantastic at accumulating runs.

“Test matches are five days long, they don’t have to be over in four days.”

But Hoggard said Stokes also deserved huge praise for the job he was doing: “As fans, we can be fickle. Before Ben Stokes, we had two wins in 13. Then we won 13 games out of 15 and everything was good. We’ve lost the first two matches of the Ashes, and everyone is kicking off again.

“We have to take the rough with the smooth because there were games last year that we had no right in winning.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the series he continued: “We have had opportunities to win both matches so it’s not doom and gloom, I just think we can be smarter in certain times of the game when, instead of taking the ultra-positive thought, we could grind them into the dirt. There have been small margins in all the games Australia have won. We could have won and seized the opportunities.”

Reflecting on the controversial incident involving Bairstow he said: “If you’re playing to the letter of the law then it’s out. But if you’re playing by the spirit of cricket then it’s not out. So, it’s a grey area and under the letter of the law you can turn around and Jonny was sloppy. As a batter, I’d be furious. But again, you’d kick yourself and say right ‘why did I do that?’ but you can see why he did it because he was looking at the bowler and thought it was over and walked out his crease.

“We like a little bit of controversy don’t we. Sports are never black or white, you always have an opinion on it. Everybody wants to watch sports people push the boundaries and push the limits of what you think is possible and what the rules are. We want drama and controversy.”

Hoggard was speaking ahead of taking part in the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship which will be held at Nailcote Hall next month.

Around 10,000 spectators are expected to attend the event, and free tickets are already available at britishpar3.com. If you are unable to make the event, then highlights will be broadcast on Sky Sports.

He added: “I’m always nervous playing you know, you put me in front of 100,000 people playing cricket and I’ll know how to do that, it’s like water off a duck’s back. Put me in front of 10 people teeing off and I shake like a leaf. It is very nerve-racking especially as it’s up close and personal.”

“But it’s a great opportunity to have some fun and see some amazing golfers and just be a part of something special. I mean, in the pro-am which is what I play in, you get to meet some good golfers, some average golfers and people like me who are just there for a laugh. It’s a great mix.”