Bazball faces a moment of reckoning, with India Tests and Ashes in the offing

The Hindu

4 days ago

After being dropped from England's squad for the Test tour of the West Indies in 2022, Stuart Broad wrote in his column in Mail on Sunday about the state of his mind. 'It hit me pretty hard,' conceded one half of England's deadliest ever bowling duo (the other half, James Anderson, had also been dropped).
Broad admitted it affected his sleep. He was, however, assured by England Cricket Board interim managing director Andrew Strauss that it wasn't the end of the road. Mere words of consolation those weren't. Broad was back for the home series against New Zealand that summer.
A rude shock
But, at the first training session at Lord's ahead of the first Test, he was in for a shock, as he revealed recently in the For The Love Of Cricket podcast. Newly appointed captain Ben Stokes told him, 'Broady, I just want to let you know, I am going to whack every ball you bowl for four or six.'
Broad, who was hoping, on his return, to impress the skipper and new coach Brendon McCullum, was taken aback. 'Really?' he wondered. 'Why?'
'I want the guys I am going to lead this week to look at me and see that I am playing fearlessly, even in training, testing my limits,' replied Stokes.
Broad's thoughts were slightly different: 'All my teammates are now going to see me get thumped everywhere.'
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The prolific seamer, nevertheless, charged in and bowled what he would to Tom Latham in the Test, at the top of the left-hander's off-stump. Stokes kept his word. 'He must have scored 150 in half-an-hour,' Broad reckoned.
That was the teaser for Bazball.
McCullum and Stokes together authored a new, exciting chapter in the story of the century-and-a-half-old Test cricket. That summer saw England play stunningly aggressive cricket to win chasing in four successive Tests, the targets among the 13 biggest in England's history. The highest of those came against India at Edgbaston, in the rescheduled fifth Test from the 2021 series — England made 378 for three at 4.93 runs an over. Against the Kiwis, too, two of the chases were achieved at rates of 5.98 and 5.44.
Bazball had arrived.
Three years later, it is facing its biggest challenge, across 10 Tests spread over seven months. The first of those Tests starts at Leeds on Friday. The five-match India series will be followed by the Ashes in Australia.
When England and Australia last met in a Test series, two summers ago, Bazball had divided opinion, after the 2-2 score, with one Test being drawn (rain washed out the final day). Draw was no option, though, when McCullum set Bazball rolling against New Zealand in 2022.
In the second Test at Trent Bridge, England had been set a target of 299 from 72 overs on the final day. At tea, the score was 139 for four, with Jonny Bairstow and Stokes at the crease.
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Ben Foakes was the next man in, so he went up to McCullum and said, 'Baz, if we lose another wicket, are we blocking for the draw, do we shut it down?'
Before answering, McCullum asked the team to gather around him. 'I don't believe in draws, we are going to win this game,' said the man who once battled for 775 minutes to help New Zealand get a draw against India. He turned to Anderson, England's No. 11, and said, 'Jimmy, if you get in, try to hit every ball for four.'
Jimmy didn't need to. Bairstow (136, 92b), Stokes (75 n.o., 70b) and Foakes (12 n.o., 15b) took England home in just 50 overs.
Dazzling home and away
Though the Englishmen lost the first Test against South Africa later that summer, they won the following two to clinch the series. Bazball dazzled in its first away series, too. England won all three Tests in Pakistan, the highlight being the 74-run victory in the first Test at Rawalpindi after making 657 in the first innings in just 101 overs.
On England's next tour of the subcontinent, an even more important victory was recorded, against India at Hyderabad in 2024. Ollie Pope, who made a brilliant 196 in the third innings, showed how the reverse sweep could be more useful than the defensive blade against India's feared spin attack.
But, Jasprit Bumrah's reverse swing brought India right back into the series with a win in the second Test at Visakhapatnam. The host went on to claim the five-match series 4-1 to deal Bazball its biggest blow.
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The next tour to Asia too would end in disappointment for England, losing to Pakistan 1-2. The opening Test last October witnessed some classic Bazball, though. In their only innings, the Englishmen amassed 823 for seven (declared) at a run-rate of 5.48 to post an innings win.
But, Pakistan decided to bet heavily on spinners with tracks that assisted them (at the insistence of new selector Aaqib Javed), and used huge industrial fans to dry the pitch at Multan, where the first Test was also played. The home side won the second Test and then the third, at Rawalpindi, where wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan sledged England's triple-centurion from the first Test, Harry Brook, 'This is Aaqib-ball now.'
It was evident: Bazball would struggle on turners. The all-out aggressive approach cannot work all the time.
And you don't really need to declare your innings on the first day of the Test itself. There are other, less risky, ways to win, too. (At Birmingham in 2023, England declared against Australia on the opening day and went on to lose by two wickets).
But, the fact remains that Bazball has served England well over the last three years (63.9% win-rate). Only Australia (64.5%) has a better record in Tests in that period.
And over time, McCullum and Stokes have fine-tuned their style. They have shown they can rein in aggression, or recklessness, a bit when the situation demands it. They may have to do more of that if they want to beat India at home and then Australia in Australia, which cannot be easy, against one of the most potent Test attacks of all time.
What the future holds
Bazball has made an impact. It will be interesting to see how it fares once Stokes and McCullum leave the stage. Bazball has worked because of the way the duo has functioned as coach and captain. 'Baz and Stokesy are the same people,' Broad said. There probably hasn't been a pair like that in cricket.
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The likes of Jamie Smith — his Bazball batting has kept Foakes, described by Adam Gilchrist as the best wicketkeeper to spin he has seen, out of the team — and Jacob Bethell could provide a sense of continuity, yes. And of course, Brook is still pretty young.
Bazball has made Test cricket more interesting, surely. And England definitely needed that after losing its four previous series.
Bazball needn't — and shouldn't — be the only way to play Test cricket, however. McCullum may not enjoy it much, but the draw salvaged from the brink of defeat is one of the many things that make Test cricket the greatest theatre in sport.