English cricket’s “Bazball” revolution is about to get its ultimate test.
The Ashes — the most famous of the Test series — is here once again and the five matches between England and Australia could be among the wildest since the first one was played in 1882.
Under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, whose nickname is “Baz,” England have gone into an all-out attack mode and won 12 of their last 17 Tests. Always chasing a win — even at the risk of losing — England have not been defeated in a series over the past year. It’s a remarkable turnaround in form for a team which had won just one of its previous 17 Tests before their partnership.
It has reached the stage where England’s players will chase quick runs and take wickets or adopt aggressive field placings against any team.
In Australia, they are taking on just that: The newly crowned world Test champion.
And the message from the Australians, who beat India in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on Sunday? Bring it on.
“I said it initially when Bazball started, that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers,” Australia batter Steve Smith said.
“They’ve obviously done well against some other attacks but they haven’t come up against us yet. It’s been exciting to watch, I’ve enjoyed watching the way they’ve played and the way they’ve turned things around in the last 12 months, but we’ll wait and see how it comes off against us.”
Stokes has insisted there will be taking no backward step.
“As captain, I’m not going to be chewing people out in press conferences or in the media for trying to play a big shot,” Stokes said in a column in The Players’ Tribune.
“And behind the scenes, you’re not gonna get a slap on the wrist from me or Brendon McCullum about it. The bottom line is, everybody fails at some point, so you might as well go out batting the way you want to. That won’t change just because it’s the Ashes.”
