OLIVER HOLT: Give me this England adrenaline shot any day – it’s impossible to take your eyes off

Put the smelling salts away, still your beating heart, quiet your righteous indignation, stop your ranting about the death of cricket and other such nonsense and have a quick look at the scorecard. That’s right: it’s OK. Actually, it’s more than OK.

At the end of one of the most compelling days of Ashes cricket many can remember, a day when England played beautifully for some passages of play, a day when they played like Babe Ruth, struck out swinging for the fences, for some passages of play, they closed on 278 for four.

So, pretty much even-steven with Australia, who were bowled out earlier in the day for 416. England got to their total at stumps by scoring at close to five an over, at first with judicious aggression and then with, well, injudicious aggression.

England’s approach, after tea in particular, appeared to induce a collective meltdown in the cricket nation when Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Joe Root got themselves out in the space of seven overs, all dismissed because they tried to overpower Australia’s short-ball tactics.

One of the results of the way England are playing under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes is that some fans want all the thrills and none of the spills. Sport isn’t like that. If you take risks, sometimes it isn’t going to work and sometimes you are going to look stupid. It takes courage to play the way England are playing because they know that after the plaudits, there will be brickbats.

Many suggested that this Test would be Bazball’s ultimate Test after losing the opening clash

Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Joe Root (pictured) got themselves out in the space of seven overs

Australia were eventually bowled out for 416 on Thursday morning after Steve Smith’s ton

But it’s a wild ride getting there. And it’s a heady mix of brilliant shot-making and rash shot- making. It’s a mix of the beautiful and the insane. It’s some of the most breathtaking, unpredictable sport you will see anywhere.

If you want to know just how unpredictable, consider that it took Stokes coming to the crease to calm things down for the last hour or so. When you are looking to the England captain to be a model of conservatism, you know it’s been a strange evening.

Some of the appalled reaction to England’s tactics after tea was so extreme you could have been forgiven for thinking the police were about to march on to the outfield, put a cordon around the square and declare it a crime scene.

Somewhere between the start of the First Test at Edgbaston and the beginning of the sequel at Lord’s, Bazball became something to be suspicious of, something to be scared of and denigrate. 

Some people seem to want Bazball to fail so badly that they are actually celebrating the fall of England wickets so they can claim it as supporting evidence. It’s a strange state of affairs. Many seem way more fixated on how a batter got out than how many runs he scored.

Sure, it felt like a waste when Duckett, who was two runs short of his century, pulled a hook from Cameron Green right down the throat of David Warner at long leg off one of a barrage of bouncers from Josh Hazlewood. 

But Duckett had scored 98 by then and he had scored 98 by playing his shots and taking risks and taking the game to Australia. And in the end, he was undone. But if he had played another way, he would probably have been undone earlier. Is it not more relevant to praise a superb innings than criticise the way it ended?

Amid all the howling and the rage at England’s untrammelled aggression, it feels as if maybe we should have a little more faith in Stokes and his team and what they are trying to do. They are trying to take the game to Australia because it is the best way to win.

Perhaps we should have a little more faith in the way that Ben Stokes’ team play and what they are trying to do 

England did at times get the balance of their attacking philosophy wrong, but it was that philosophy that put them in a healthy position

Harry Brook (pictured) and Stokes came in to steady the ship and see England through to the close

Sometimes, they get the balance of that attacking philosophy wrong, as they did for a brief period on Thursday. But they are still in a good position and they played in a way that was impossible to take your eyes off for a second.

Some, it seems, would rather England played the soporific, suffocating, stolid, timorous kind of way that took the team to a record of one win in 17 matches under a previous regime. Give me this style of cricket, this aggression, this uncertainty, this adrenaline shot, any day over that.

Hard though it is, maybe people should start getting used to the fact that England are committed to playing aggressive, entertaining cricket and that they will refine their approach over time. It’s a grief to many, I know, that England are good to watch again but maybe we’ll get used to it.

So when Zak Crawley was out for 48, stumped by Alex Carey off the bowling of Nathan Lyon, he was castigated for the manner of his dismissal. In the small print, it was noted that the fluent opening stand of 91 he shared with Duckett was England’s highest opening partnership in the Ashes since Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in 2011 at the SCG.

When opener Zak Crawley was out for 48 he was castigated for the manner of his dismissal

The last six times an England opener has reached 90 in the Ashes, four of them have got out

Brook ended the day on 45 from 51 deliveries in a knock including four fours before close

Duckett was out for 98, yes, but the last six times England openers have reached 90 in an Ashes Test, only two of them have gone on to make a century. Dismissals happen in the nervous 90s. Don’t blame it all on Bazball.

Maybe England would be in a stronger position if they had played differently. Or maybe not. At the start of their innings, bookmakers were predicting they would score 323. They look as if they will surpass that comfortably.

At the start of play, many of us feared that England were ripe for a collapse in the face of such a commanding Australian batting performance. Many said this would be Bazball’s biggest test.

And you know what, when you put the smelling salts down, the reality is that England are not just still in the game; they probably have a slight advantage. Bazball passed the test.