The why and how of England's Bazball

Bengaluru: 'Bazball’ has been the buzzword for nearly two years now. In fact, the Collins Dictionary deemed it a worthy inclusion to the age-old institution’s website. But what exactly is it?

As far as the dictionary is concerned, it means ’a style of Test cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner’. 

As for the origin of the word, it says: “…after Brendon McCullum, known as Baz (born 1981), New Zealand cricketer and coach.”

Yeah, Bazball isn’t just a bunch of typically stuck-up English folk slaying bowlers without a plan in sight. It might seem so given the breakneck speed at which they have scored, but that characterisation is simply not nuanced enough. 

So, what is Bazball?

In short, it’s a state of mind. When McCullum was named coach of the England side, he figured the side needed a new, refreshing approach. England had evolved into another beast when it came to limited-overs cricket, but in Tests, they were about as bland as the whites they played in. So, after they went with just one Test win in 17 games, the management reckoned something needed to be done, something novel. 

McCullum had the plan, and Ben Stokes bit into it. The duo decided to go hell-for-leather no matter the consequences or the circumstances. While that might, to an outsider, seem reckless, the larger schema involved seven fundamental principles. 

Be less reflective in the environment, don’t give into negative chatter, win at all costs, don’t fear failure, don’t fall prey to praise, keep the message simple, embrace mental freedom…

Bazball borrows heavily from Stoicism, but the fact that an entire team bought into the ideology without resistance is impressive. Then again, given where England were in early 2022, they could only go up.

What has been the impact of Bazball?

For one, England have won 15 out of the 24 Tests they have played in since June. More pertinently, they have taken great delight in going after big targets with time running down. It was first seen when they chased down 296 in 54.2 overs against New Zealand and then came the chasing of 299 in 50 overs in the same series. 

The real possibility of this mindset shift was, however, observed when they chased down 378 runs against India at Edgbaston in July that same year. 

What’s scarier is when Stokes came on record soon after and said they would have liked to chase down more, and he wasn’t kidding when he said it either. 

The approach has resulted in them getting bungling it up from time to time, but by and large, this approach is exciting, and it came at a time when Test cricket was having an existential crisis. 

Still, there was some apprehension about how effective the mindset would be when the five-Test tour to India was announced.

How has Bazball fared in India so far?

They won the first Test and gave India a run for their money in the second so it’s fairly obvious what it’s capable of. 

It didn’t look good for them after the first innings of the opening Test in Hyderabad when they were bundled out for 246 and India piled on 436, but as the philosophy dictates, they didn’t let that baggage come in the way of what they were going on do in the second innings. Thus, 420 runs were realised in 102.1 overs at a run rate of 4.11 on the back of Ollie Pope’s 196. 

India, chasing 231 on a fourth-day wicket, forgot how to play spinners at home, gave away six wickets to Tom Hartley, and lost the game by 28 runs. 

In the second Test in Visakhapatnam, they didn’t fare well in the first innings (253 all out), but when India put up a target of 399, they were not fretting it. The Indian camp, aware of England’s chasing prowess, was rather quiet about the business. 

England, however, played the way they had decided to. It resulted in a 106-run loss, but that they had inspired fear in the home side even while chasing nearly 400 runs, is what Bazball is all about.