How ‘Bazball’ is challenging the conventional wisdom of test cricket

Of course, the name refers to Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum (right), England’s red-ball specialist head coach, who along with Ben Stokes, has injected this new phenomenon in English red-ball cricket. Reuters

The Ashes summer is always special. It is the oldest and the most prestigious test rivalry in the world and both English and Australian Cricket leave no stone unturned to make you feel its charm.

Heading into The Ashes, especially in the UK where test cricket attracts a lot of domestic and global eyeballs, one can sense the buzz through the utmost anticipation among fans, the meticulously crafted build-ups by the broadcasters and other stakeholders; and most importantly, through the added exuberance among players, who arguably value test format the most.

This year, the hype is even bigger, especially among the home supporters because of the unique way the Ben Stokes-led English side is going about their business in red-ball cricket since their last home season.

British media terms this new spectacle ‘Bazball’

Of course, the name refers to Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum, England’s red-ball specialist head coach, who along with Stokes, has injected this new phenomenon in English red-ball cricket, which probably was very much against any sort of frivolity a year or two ago.

Cult factor

In their 15-month tenure, the coach-skipper duo hasn’t made any drastic change in players’ techniques or added any extra wisdom into the game – they’ve just made Test cricket more entertaining and more watchable by simplifying things. In the process, England won 11 of their 14 matches, tasting success at both home and abroad.

Often, people misinterpret ‘Bazball’ as just aggressive stroke play. It is beyond that. It’s a cult. It’s a new way of approaching test cricket by transforming the overall thought process.

The English side does not care about conventional wisdom. Even if the pitch has thick grass cover, even if the conditions are cloudy, if the ball is there to be hit, it will go to the fence.

Gone are the days (at least for England) when cricketing greats used to say, “Give the first session to the bowlers, the next two will be yours.” The new philosophy of this team is: go out there and express yourself, the external factors will eventually fall in place.

That’s why we’ve seen Zak Crawley hitting the first ball of the Ashes for a boundary or Joe Root attempting a reverse scoop against Scot Boland on the very first ball of the day at Edgbaston or even Root batting left-handed at Rawalpindi.

In bowling also, the focus has been on taking wickets rather than worrying about economy rates. Bowlers have been given more attacking field placements and most importantly, more time (thanks to the healthy scoring rate by the batters) to take those 20 wickets.

The leadership too played its part. It was the positive impact of ‘Bazball’ that allowed Stokes to declare on 393 for 8 on Day 1 of The Ashes, with a centurion still out there.

Yes, at Edgbaston, the move kind of backfired a little, though one needs to agree that England’s continuous quest for a result turned the match into one of the greatest tests of all time, despite the weather interruptions and a dull pitch. Furthermore, England lost the first test because of their sloppiness on the field, rather than their decision making.

Under similar circumstances, Stokes and England could have settled for a draw on a flat batting pitch at Rawalpindi last December. Instead, they set Pakistan 343 in four sessions and eventually ended up winning the match.

The impact of ‘Bazball’ is such in this country that even after a defeat at Edgbaston, the expectation from the team has gone up. The so-called traditional English crowd now has developed a craving for more such ‘masala’ flavour in their Test cricket.

They don’t want to settle with traditional form gameplay anymore. Hence, despite the occasional failures, there is no immediate threat to ‘Bazball.’ The English cricket fraternity is on the same page on this.

Now, since we are up for another rollercoaster ride at the Lord’s test and beyond, it will be interesting to watch whether this phenomenon is restricted to English cricket or spreads like wildfire in the near future, as it did with the T20 format.