A common criticism that Test cricket has often faced is its inability to entertain the audience because of the crawling format of the game.
A year ago, England appointed Brendon McCullum as head coach for Test cricket, in a move that has turned out to be a counter-attack of that criticism.
Subsequently, a new era of Test cricket began, nicknamed "Bazball". Here we look at what the term means, and how it will impact England's pursuit of The Ashes against old enemies Australia.
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What is "Bazball"?
A play on Brendon "Baz" McCullum's nickname, Bazball is a term coined by ESPN Cricinfo UK editor Andrew Miller on the Switch Hit podcast.
The emphasis of Bazball is on playing a brand of cricket that is fearless and attacking. It mirrors Brendon McCullum's time as a player, where he was known to have an attacking approach while captaining New Zealand's team and often used aggressive stroke play to wear down the opponents.
It was a breath of fresh air for the Black Caps, who were quite traditional and were often regarded as underdogs in any match.
McCullum’s partnership with the newly appointed red-ball captain Ben Stokes has beckoned a contemporary period for English Test cricket, and created a team that is backing itself to play fearless cricket at all points of time in the five-day game.
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Brendon McCullum's record with England Test team
Red-ball cricket in England was going through a rough patch under Joe Root’s captaincy. Before the McCullum-Stokes unit, England had won only one game out of 17 Test matches played.
Player unavailabilities and Covid-19 restrictions plagued Root’s captaincy tenure. However, post the transition to McCullum and Stokes, the new duo did not make any rash changes to the team composition.
Players weren't hastily dropped or replaced. But the attitude was altered. An 'against-the-odds' vantage point was introduced. And the success has been vividly visible.
Since the summer of 2022, and heading into this year's Ashes series, England had won 11 out of their 13 Test matches played and all were dominating victories. The team has scored runs at a rate of 4.85 per over — the highest for any team in this Test cycle. England also became the first team to successfully chase down 250 runs or more in four consecutive Tests.
If one pays close attention when Stokes wins any toss, you’ll always hear him say, "We'll chase" and not "We'll bowl first."
Stokes has expressed his desire of picking up 20 wickets as quickly as possible. And his bowlers take that seriously. Regardless of the runs, the bowling unit has achieved the target of 20 wickets consistently.
In the Bazball era, England’s leading wicket-takers have been Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Jack Leach — all have picked up 45 wickets.
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What has been the reaction to "Bazball"?
While England might have seen tremendous growth and success in the Bazball era, not everyone is a fan of the team's approach to Test cricket. Former England captain Andrew Flintoff said that England are just playing some "exciting cricket," and "Bazball is one of the worst things" he’s heard of.
R Ashwin, India’s premier spinner, feels that Bazball might not be suitable for all conditions and that there might be some pitches that will not accept the attacking approach.
Meanwhile, members of the England team have been quite happy with Bazball. In an interview with Sky Sports, England's leading pacer Stuart Broad suggested that this new approach has helped England reach the top and instilled a new sense of confidence in the players.
While speaking to the media about England's fiery attacking mindset, captain Stokes said that Bazball has “taken away the pressures of playing an international sport”. He wants his players to score a century at greater than a run-a-ball pace.
Will Bazball work against Australia during the Ashes?
With the Ashes 2023 underway, it is to be seen if Bazball is good enough to snap Australia's winning high. The recently crowned World Test Champions are not too worried about England's new approach.
Last year, Steve Smith — Australia's star batter — questioned the style's longevity and whether it would work against Australia’s loaded pace attack.
Currently, Australia holds The Ashes urn and England have not won the series since 2017.
If Bazball actually turns out to be the trump card for England as it is touted to be, then the trophy might just "come home" rather than go Down Under once again.