Steve Smith has suggested England have left behind their promise to be “entertainers” and adopted a more pragmatic approach ahead of the Ashes later this year.
England are aiming to regain the urn for the first time since 2015 when they travel to Australia in November, having won only one series down under since 1987.
The team has transformed its approach under the leadership of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, adopting the gung-ho approach dubbed Bazball in which they prioritised thrilling cricket over results.
But Smith believes England have changed tack during the current Test series with India.
“They have started to play a little bit differently in the last couple of weeks in terms of playing the situation, as opposed to going out and trying to be the entertainers that they said they wanted to be,” the former Australia captain told BBC Sport.
“They are actually trying to win the games now which is perhaps different to what was said in their comments previously.”
Smith, who is representing Welsh Fire in this year’s Hundred, also warned that England’s big-scoring batters should expect a far harder challenge when they reach Australia.
“Their batters are going to be challenged a little bit differently to the wickets they have had over in England for a while, which have looked pretty flat and good for batting,” he said.
“The wickets in Australia in the last three or four years have been very tricky for top order batters. It is going to be a good challenge for them.
“But it’s going to be a wonderful series. I have been watching the India and England series and there has been some great cricket played there, so I think the Ashes this year is going to be an absolute belter.”
The first Ashes Test begins in Perth on 21 November.
