In junk time at the end of net sessions long ago, you could sometimes see right-handed batsmen facing up as lefties and right-arm bowlers competently delivering the other way around. I once saw a renowned Sheffield Shield tailender face up with a stump and middle every ball.
Big-time cricketers were like recreational cyclists, with 27 gears at their disposal, but using only six or seven. In first-class cricket, orthodoxy prevailed.
At just 18, debutant England spinner Rehan Ahmed takes a wicket in Multan.Credit:Getty Images
“V” was the sector of the ground between extra cover and mid-wicket in which batsmen must play, not shorthand for victory that was days away, and improbable anyway. A departure from the textbook that did not work would mean repenting for days, sometimes a lifetime.
One-day and T20 cricket changed the risk-reward ratio, but in Test cricket mavericks came along only every decade or so: think Ian Botham, Adam Gilchrist and late-career Brendon McCullum.
Now McCullum is coach of England and Ben Stokes is captain, and together they are fomenting a revolution in Test cricket by bringing to it a limited-overs mindset. England are daring to think of what they can do, and not what they daren’t. They’re trying all those unused gears. They’re out to entertain. Draw(er)s are for socks.
The results have been startling. The team that was so abject here last summer under Joe Root and lost to the West Indies as recently as March suddenly have won nine of their past 10 Tests. The one defeat, to South Africa, was by an innings; no half-measures here. They promptly redressed it with an innings victory over the same opponent.
The architects of Bazball: England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendan McCullum.Credit:Getty
This cavalier England outfit belts along at seven an over in first innings and happily hare after 400 in fourth innings. If anything, they prefer to chase. Alternatively, they set opponents reachable targets, daring them to dare. Instead of a nightwatchman, they have a “nighthawk”, tasked to make as many as he can in as little time as possible.
In Pakistan, Root faced up left-handed in one match and a spinner opened the bowling in another. England picked a T20 player, Harry Brook, in the middle order and he promptly made three centuries. They picked an 18-year-old leg-spinner, Rehan Ahmed, and he promptly took seven wickets. On a flat pitch in Rawalpindi, they went with a counterintuitive bumper barrage.
They might have been taking the mickey, except that they swept Pakistan 3-0, an unprecedented feat and compelling to watch. Expect a mini-series to follow on Stan. McCullum and Stokes have become the Edward de Bono of cricket.
England’s cricket rejoices in the name of Bazball, for its progenitor McCullum. Already, idle minds are turning to how it might work against Australia in next year’s Ashes, and how Australia might respond, and how they might even agree both to play in this crash-through or-crash way and what a fillip all this would be for Test cricket.
Travis Head: a natural Bazballer?Credit:Getty Images
At risk of acting as a damp duvet, this is premature. First, Bazball might be the answer to a question that, in Ashes cricket, hasn’t necessarily been asked. Anglo-Australian series play to packed houses and high ratings anyway. It’s still the acme. It doesn’t need saving.
Second, Test cricket in England tends to be up-tempo by default. Small grounds make it so, and latterly a move away from seamy pitches has added to it. It used to be that everything was one or four. Now it’s one, four or six (and yes, we can’t get Headingley out of our heads).
Not playing for the draw is old hat. In terms of what’s wrong with the game, it’s a straw man. Few uninterrupted Test matches these days finish as draws; not many get even to a fifth day. Taking a line through the recent Brisbane Test, Test cricket needs a beta blocker more than a stimulant.
Second, Australia are generally an attacking side anyway. To be any other under a fast-bowling captain would be antithetical and dishonourable. Its best batsman right now, Travis Head, is also its most attacking, and so is its best bowler, Mitch Starc.
Harry Brook: England’s latest batting sensation.Credit:Getty Images
In the northern summer, India and New Zealand, though both underdone, entered into the spirit of Bazball. It cost them Tests, but served the game’s greater good. You can be certain Australia will be happy to engage with Bazball on terms. It won’t need a pact. It’s a delicious prospect.
Third, England can play only as much Bazball as the Australians let it. In their summer, England caught New Zealand, India and South Africa by surprise. In Pakistan, they had their way with the home team’s callow attack, which in turn overwhelmed their batting. Australia won’t, or shouldn’t, let England take such liberties. Bazball takes nerve to play, but also skill, awareness and poise.
The forerunner of Bazball was its namesake’s performance in the 2015 World Cup. McCullum led off New Zealand at nearly two runs a ball in that tournament, which was exhilarating to watch and sped his team into the final on the MCG. There, faced with Starc, he missed all three balls he faced and the third crashed into his stumps.
Australia won.
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