English cricket is bracing itself for the unknown impact ‘Bazball’ will have on the County Championship, the 123rd edition of which gets underway in the United Kingdom on Thursday evening.
Since Brendon McCullum took over as coach last year, England’s Test side has implemented an aggressive and entertaining brand of cricket focused on believing they can win from any situation, never considering the draw as an option.
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Attacking scoring rates, brave declarations and unique field settings have become synonymous with McCullum’s England — and the strategy has paid dividends, with the old enemy recording ten wins from 12 attempts, including a historic 3-0 series whitewash over Pakistan in the subcontinent.
England has scored at 4.76 runs per over in the five-day format in the last 12 months — that figure ballooned to 5.50 in Pakistan, plundering 506 runs on day one of the series opener in Rawalpindi.
During their home summer, England successfully chased a record 378-run target against India at Edgbaston in just 76.4 overs, courtesy of an unbeaten 269-run partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
However, the team mantra, colloquially dubbed ‘Bazball’ much to McCullum’s frustration, is not simply about scoring runs quickly — alleviating pressure, creating a relaxed environment and playing with confidence and conviction are among the New Zealander’s leading priorities.
“Nothing is impossible for this team,” former England bowler and Fox Cricket expert Isa Guha told foxsports.com.au earlier this summer.
“The mindset has been created from not fearing getting out and having that kind of fearless approach to batting in Test cricket. He’s very much supported the players to go out there and be positive.
“There are no limits.”
‘BazBall’ isn’t foolproof, of course — England suffered an agonising one-run defeat to New Zealand in February, becoming just the fourth Test team in history to lose after enforcing the follow-on.
But, importantly, it was one of the most entertaining Test matches of the modern era.
In January, McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes outlined a blueprint for England’s new-found success in a Zoom teleconference with the county head coaches and directors of cricket, hoping the team’s ethos will filter down to the domestic level.
Although they did not demand the county teams mimic England’s approach to red-ball cricket, it was insinuated that players looking to push their case for Ashes selection should display their attacking intent during the first half of the County Championship.
Former England opener and Surrey captain Rory Burns may have already provided a glimpse at what’s to come over the next seven weeks. For his final knock of the pre-season, the typically-defensive left-hander charged down the pitch and slapped a catch towards mid-off, trudging back to the sheds for a golden duck.
Unfortunately for Burns, this was far from the most memorable first-ball dismissal of his professional career.
“I think you will find that, individually, players will try their own version of (Bazball),” Nottinghamshire coach Peter Moores told The Guardian.
“When you first come into the game, through the pathway, England is the dream and you’ll do anything to get into that team, so young guys will definitely have looked at how England have been playing.”
Lancashire captain Keaton Jennings, who played the most recent of his 17 Tests in 2019, predicted that England’s red-ball revolution would influence how everyone plays in the County Championship, to varying degrees.
“You’ll be seeing guys caught at cover on April 6 trying to smack it out of the ground,” Jennings said, as reported by PA.
“There will probably be a few captains pulling their hair out.”
Meanwhile, the number of points awarded for a draw in the first-class competition has been dropped from eight to five, encouraging teams to fight for victory rather than settle for a stalemate.
Durham batter David Bedingham warned there would be “some very rogue declarations on the cards” in the County Championship this season.
“Traditionalists might have something to say but it’s a different way of looking at the game and what England have done is really special,” Bedingham told PA.
“It’s good for cricket as a whole.”
Several Australian cricketers — including but not limited to Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris and Steve Smith — will be playing their trade in the County Championship this winter, providing an opportunity to experience the ‘Bazball’ craze before the highly-anticipated Ashes series gets underway in June.
