England Alex Lees Reveals Sledge From The 2022 Birmingham Test
One of the earliest England graduates of Bazball, Alex Lees, played the sixth test of his career when England took on India in July 2022 at Birmingham Edgbaston Stadium. England, already trailing the five-match series 1-2, further conceded a 132-run first-inning lead to the tourists in the series-decider.
Virat Kohli was spotted riling up several England cricketers on numerous occasions throughout the Test match. Then six-year-old Alex Lees recently revealed some details about Kohli’s verbal antics and how the batting giant used his international stature to intimidate some of the young English players in the hosts’ playing XI.
In a new book, ‘BazBall: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution’, Alex Lees detailed his run-in with Virat Kohli during the 2022 Edgbaston Test match. Lees stated that even though the Indian batting legend is an incredible player, he acted out like a “bit of an idiot” in that particular Test. The Yorkshire Star said:
Lees said, "Kohli was carrying on for quite a while. He was just carrying on in a fashion he can do sometimes. He had been getting under people’s skin in the field when he was batting. I’m not fussed about someone’s position in the game. We are all equal on the pitch. I just wasn’t going to put up with someone trying to intimidate me. It was as simple as that. He is an incredible player, but I thought he was just being a bit of an idiot."
Alex Lees also added that, at one point, he responded back with a cheeky comment by using Virat Kohli’s poor form as a metaphor against him. The Englishman quipped, "I've had two kids since you last scored a century."