There has been a lot of talk around the town about “Bazball”. It will not be peculiar that most people are unaware of what the term stands for and what it represents. Why not talk about this unique term and how much impact it has started to create in International Cricket?
Well! From the time when Brendon Mccullum walked into the English Dressing room till this date, England’s men’s Test team has wreaked havoc in the international Test arena. Brendon’s mindset plus Stokes and his men’s skillset have taken up the task to modernize and change the concept of the most aged format of Cricket.
How Brendon Mccullum’s inclusion in England’s Test Setup was peculiar for many?
Being a successful T20 mentor in various leagues is understandable for a player like Brendon. But his sudden presence on the Test side was precarious for players as well as the coaching staff. But the minds behind this recruiting were clear on this addition to the team.
Brendon, being the most dangerous and explosive batsman, always believed in taking the attack to the opposition and never letting them settle from ball one. The reason why he was recruited was his volatile attitude and he was supposed to incorporate that into English Test players. Now, this is where things get interesting. Although England plays fierce cricket in shorter formats, their fans didn’t expect them to play like that in tests too. Hence, they were surprised to see Mccullum in the current setup but little did they know about how this one recruitment is going to change Test Cricket for good.
Mantra for Bazball “Attack is the new defence”
This method is based on one rule: “Confusion-less cricket”. Attacking all the time but not attacking blindly is the focus.
Teams playing the test matches in a contemporary way are the perfect example of how you fail when you play the game with no direction and no goals. I mean if the pitch isn’t favouring any of the teams, then instead of going for a result, most of them carry on with the same momentum and eventually draw the test.
But the formula introduced by Brendon and Stokes doesn’t believe in this type of cricket. They play and they play to win, not to waste their time or their fans. That is a terrific approach. I mean if someone wanted to see batsmen playing throughout the five days of a test match, he might as well have played cricket on the PlayStation with easy mode on. It is ridiculous to see teams doing nothing at all to win or take a chance.
How is this Approach going to shape the future of Test Cricket?
In the near future, Test playing nations will be forced to adapt to this method. Not by ICC or any other body, but they will have to do this on their own. Because it is inevitable and in order to win, they will have to change their gears and start doing what England has been doing for the past few months. This will start the period of “Bazball” supremacy.
This is important for viewership too because people are taking less and less interest in the longer format. But if teams start to play differently, maybe this can change and people will start to take interest again in the oldest format of the game.
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