Despite defeat in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston, England are “inside the heads” of Australia’s Test team, according to former England batter Ian Bell.

Ben Stokes’ side came within two wickets of victory in the first Test of the 2023 Ashes, but were thwarted at the last by a counter-attack from Nathan Lyon and away captain Pat Cummins. The match was an instant classic, rated as one of the best played between the teams, and Bell backed England to respond to the reversal and claim a series win.

“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Ben Stokes’ team to come from behind and win the series,” the Betfair ambassador said.

He leaned on his own Ashes experience, with England coming from 1-0 down to win the 2005 Ashes, a series which swung on them winning a heart-stopper at Edgbaston by two runs. “I know a thing or two about coming from behind to win a home Ashes series,” he added. “And I know a thing or two about Edgbaston epics. Back in 2005, when I was right at the start of my England career, the tight result went our way. If it had gone against us, maybe we wouldn’t have come back but this England team have so much aggression and are relentless in their approach that Australia will be extremely wary.”

Key to his belief is what he saw as a “passive” approach from Australia. Regularly employing deep-set fields, and forgoing any attempts to copy England’s aggression with the bat, Cummins’ side came in for early criticism from Ricky Ponting, among others. While they may feel vindicated by victory, Bell suggested they looked “scared” and “nervous” at times.

“I’d go as far to say that Australia have more to work on,” he said. “After the first two days at Edgbaston I was amazed how passive Australia were. It was like England used to play Ashes series in the really bad old days. Australia looked scared. I saw that in two examples.

“First, in the field setting for England’s batters in the first innings. They had sweepers out on the off- and on-side after three overs. I’d never seen anything like it and as someone who has experienced the pressure cooker of an Ashes series – I won five out of seven – being afforded an easy option for a single as a batter like that would have been unheard of.

“It was also interesting how nervous Steve Smith was. Why didn’t he launch himself at Harry Brook? Why did he barely play a stroke in anger?

“As I said, I think England’s intent has unnerved Australia and the only time they showed any aggression themselves was when Alex Carey was out in that extraordinary final innings. Basically, they only played in England’s style when they knew they were beaten and they had nothing to lose. Psychologically that is fascinating. Brendon McCullum will pick up on that.

“In the aftermath of the epic at Edgbaston England will feel exhausted and hugely disappointed. But once the dust settles they may come to realise that despite being 1-0 down in this Ashes series, they have got a psychological grip on Australia.”

Bell also touched on the other talking points in the game, including Ollie Robinson’s send-off to Usman Khawaja. The England seamer appeared to shout “f*** off, you f***ing p***k” at the opposition batter after dismissing him, and defended his celebration at stumps. Bell said he had “no issue” with the send-off.

“ It is going to be spicy on the field at times – rightly so – and that is why I have no issue with Ollie Robinson giving Usman Khawaja a send-off,” he said. “I had plenty of send-offs when I was playing this lot, believe me. It is part of it. Maybe I was a bit surprised that Ollie doubled down in the press conference but every word he spoke was true. If you can’t handle it…”

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