‘Bazball’ or bust!
Right now, you get the feeling if opposition teams do not adopt England’s stunning, high-risk batting style in Test cricket, they will do so at their own peril.
Brendon McCullum, the new England coach and the inventor of ‘Bazball’, has said they will push all boundaries when playing to find out where the line is.
“I hope we take it too far, because then we will know exactly where that line is. Until you do that, you are not sure,” he commented.
Exciting times!
They are adopting an approach of how cricket should be played. If you prefer a team to grind out a draw on the final day rather than be entertained by a team that chases down 378 to win, that is entirely up to you. As with any change, there will be those who adopt a negative approach and say it won’t last, and calls to please just leave cricket the way it was.
Who cares whether it will work against Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc or on an Indian turning wicket: we don’t know yet, so just enjoy it for what it is now.
I have noticed that when teams or players are recovering from adversity, they respond by adopting an almost careless attitude of ‘it is only a game, everything else in life is far more important’.
New Zealand were playing Pakistan in Sharjah in 2014, when they heard the tragic news of the death of Phil Hughes and responded by changing the way their side played cricket.
“What we learnt was that when you play without any of the pressures and expectations we normally put on ourselves, your skills can be properly expressed.” said the skipper at the time. That skipper? Yep, you guessed it: Brendon McCullum.
Being in the zone, playing well, without thinking about it, is the optimal level of playing almost perfect sport. Would that be how England are playing now?
In the Sharjah Test, the Black Caps went on to victory and McCullum scored a double century.
“What you saw was a team playing without feeling,” he later said of the series-levelling victory.
So, when you see England chase 378, they are playing ‘in the zone’ with little concern about getting dropped, the outcome of the match or the opinions of their teammates should they fail. They are letting go of all the mental anguish that most players go through.
Ever played golf in the zone? On a personal note, I remember hearing my father was unwell when I was playing golf and it made me realise it was just a silly game we were playing, compared to what he was going through. It was the best I ever played.
Distract your mind from all the chatter going on and be free to play at your peak ability. I would like to ask Jonny Bairstow what he was thinking about when he was playing against New Zealand and India recently? I am sure it was not, “I’m batting for my career here!”
Brendon McCullum. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Success often follows adversity, and according to Bairstow, the freedom from COVID restrictions over the past two years has led to their current superlative form.
“It’s the freedom we have now. We’re not in hotel rooms, bubbles, having to do COVID tests every day and we can do normal things like go to the shop, go for a beer, see your friends and family,” Bairstow said recently.
McCullum has instilled a positive environment where players can feel confident making their own decisions.
Rassie Erasmus, the former Springbok rugby coach, stated after they had won the World Cup in 2019, that the team ‘had been inspired by the opportunity to bring some light and joy into the daily lives of their fellow countrymen’.
They were not motivated by personal mental pressure, but were distracted to think of others.
I am only guessing, but are the Black Caps now going through a mental stage of believing their own press and has being World Champions made them overconfident? Do they need to get back to freeing their minds of personal glory, playing cricket for the pure joy of playing?
And Australia? They will say that they have been through adversity recently with Sandpapergate and the Justin Langer controversy, but has it been enough to change, take an innovative approach and become world champions?
Maybe not – especially after losing to Sri Lanka in the second Test!
My impression is they are overly pampered and will attempt to get everything they want. Not the grounding for continued success. The difficult events in life can often bring positive returns.
Will ‘Bazball’ succeed and does it really matter? Yes, for the future of Test cricket it does.
It will not always work, but if they lose a Test by 10 runs chasing 400, is that not better than batting negatively for a draw?
I personally hope it is a remarkable success… even if it is England!
Micko
Roar Rookie
Happened to us at Trent Bridge a few years back. Rolled for 60 trying to be too aggressive.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Nope, what I want to see is more wickets like the last series in Australia. Wickets that helped ball be slightly superior to bat. These wickets don't allow for so called 'bazball' as you actually have to bat with some sort of technique and value your wicket. At some point England will get castled for 30 trying to play 'bazball' on a wicket that just has a touch more in it. It's all well and good on the pretty flat, benign wickets they produced this year, but I wouldn't like to see it become the norm. There should always be a place in our game for a bit of grafting and fighting for runs.
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
The fact that England managed to beat anyone at this stage is remarkable. A huge credit to their new coach BMac. They were looking so hopeful a while ago, Brendan was a surprise choice to me, but inspired
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Well I do care about over rates so to me that is a big issue. Good on you if you dont. Low over rates and slow batting DO NOT garrantee any sort of quality
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Peter you are the last person I want to get into a tit for tat with . You’ve earned my respect over time So I will step back and give your opinion and Bazball the benefit of doubt ... for know .. we will however resume our chat after the Proteas series . No doubt England will go with the same pitch prep , why shouldn’t they , but I want to think Rabada and company have other ideas about how they are going to go about accumulating runs . So truce mate and we will fight on another day . :cricket:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, David Warner (albeit the younger version, not currently!) Virender Sewhag, Chris Gale, Victor Trumper, Viv Richards, AB De Villiers, Ben Stokes etc, are in a rare class of aggressive see ball, hit ball batsmen, who had the hand eye coordination to do this against different opposition on different surfaces in different countries and with different balls. Not all players will be capable of this, but some might thrive with the greater onus on attacking play (such as Jonny Bairstow apparently?). A well balanced cricket team will probably have at least one or two of it's batsmen being accumulators and grafters, rather than thrive in trying to dominate the bowling attack. Alistair Cook comes to mind of such a player. Telling Cook to try to be more attacking would probably be fraught with danger, and certainly play against his strengths as a batsmen.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
In the past did the opposition "allow" Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum to smash bowlers all round the ground? That is taking a lot of credit away from those two and others. We are only guessing that it won't work in other conditions too.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Nope nothing wrong at all . England played this way and it came off because the conditions and opposition allowed them to do that . They did not pull off this new remarkable feat of positivity despite conditions. Different pitches , conditions , opposition different story . Don’t take my word for it , that’s Steve Smith’s own sentiments .
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
We can only comment on what has happened so far and I'll say it again, England could have batted the day out for a draw against NZ and India but because they have a positive approach instilled chose to chase the big totals. Is there something wrong with that?
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
So in order to make Test Cricket more “ Interesting” and compelling to watch we need more sixes and fours and more dominance of batsmen over bowlers ? Now haven’t I heard that before somewhere ? So in other words the bowlers are there to provide the deliveries so batsmen can entertain us .. That will only work if like T20 , the grounsdmen provide compliant pitches thus the ball is presented ( not bowled) to be hit as often and as far as possible . Test cricket is about summing up the situation , conditions , opposition and playing accordingly to what’s in front of you and unlike T20 the opposition have something to say about how you approach them . I dare England to come play bazball at the Wanderers against the SA attack . Good luck to them .
Rellum
Roar Guru
I don’t care about over rates so you will never convince me personally that is a big issue. I will take quality over quantity ever day and runs scored in a day is not a good metric to rate a days play in long form cricket.
Rellum
Roar Guru
No I am all for trying to win. I think teams put down the shutters too quickly. But if the conditions make it to easy to chase then you will end up with most games being manufactured draws as no wickets will fall. We have seen that already in the last 5 years. And the cricket with the WIndies I mentioned is as dynamic on the first day as much as the last. I am not exclusively talking about last day run chases. If England continue to serve up roads and hit out in run chases and everyone talks about it and it takes off I guarantee you people will be bored with it like they are one day cricket now. Batting should be hard in everything bar t20 cricket. If England tees off on a typical 5 da pitch that is hard to bat on and get the win, great, that is awesome. If they do it regularly on a pitch that resembles a one day wicket then no that is not good for the game.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
The whole thing about this so-called Bazball is that its a different attitude not a different pitch. The name is dumb as its been around with guys like Gilchrist and Bmac as batsmen and others too but I guess its being called bazball because of the major influence its had on the England team pretty much instantly. I think back to watching Viv Richards do the same thing but this is more about a change of attitude towards more attacking cricket and its mainly bought about due to some very good cricketers playing T20 and tests.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
I agree partly with what you are saying. There will be times for the grafter to hold his end up, so to speak. But by your preference England would have batted for the draws against NZ and India rather than blazing to victory?
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Rellum Im a cricket tragic. I watch a lot of test cricket and the worst part of test cricket is the slow over rate. Why we cant just play 30 overs then have lunch...30 more before tea and 30 before they knock off for the day is beyond me. Test cricket runs at around 3 runs an over traditionally. Probably closer to 3.5 but thats still only 250-260 in a day unless one side has plenty of wickets in hand. Whats changing test cricket is guys like Bmac. Pant, Bairdstow etc. And its coming from the IPL and T20 cricket where they have shown that scoring fast is just as possible as scoring slow is but of course it moves the game along a lot faster and gives results. I like what the batsmen are doing and if we can just sort out the slow over rate it will be better.
Rellum
Roar Guru
"75 overs a day and seeing 225 runs scored" How often have you seen that? I get the feeling that's what you imagine Test cricket to be like rather than what it is. An to be honest the most of the time I can remember seeing cricket like that it was the best cricket I ever saw with the Windies putting life and limb on the line every ball. Test cricket needs the bowl to be slightly on top to be thrilling. If it turns into a ODI slog fest it will become very boring very fast.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Yes, I agree with your last line. Encouraged to bat the way you want.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
So you would rather see the ball being blocked all day? I say if anything can up the tempo of test cricket its a good thing. Im sick of watching teams bowl 75 overs a day and seeing 225 runs scored. Its boring as Batsh&*t. What I noted with England was they had the guys who bat quickly anyway and they encouraged that whilst still needing the more circumspect players around them.
Rellum
Roar Guru
They will but the will forget that will play into our hands as our bowlers are successful at Test level on those type of decks. They should prepare green tops
matth
Roar Guru
You would think the English will prepare ‘Bazball’ wickets to play to their strengths, which are clearing the front leg and hitting through the line of straight balls.