‘Fear not, bring it on’: Why ‘Bazball’ has revitalised next year’s Ashes series

Key points

• England’s radical tactics have resulted in 9 wins from their past 10 Tests
• England have scored their runs at 4.77 runs an over since ‘Bazball’. No team has scored quicker than that across a 12-month period
• Mike Atherton says the McCullum approach has “liberated” the England players

During the recent Adelaide Test between Australia and the West Indies, a piece of paper was spotted in the home side’s viewing area with one word scribbled on it.

“Ronball”.

It was in reference to Australia cricket coach Andrew McDonald’s nickname “Ronnie” and taking the mickey out of “Bazball” – the revolutionary style of long-form cricket being implemented by England under new coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.

David Warner, always the antagonist, was asked recently about England’s breathtaking transformation since their Ashes nightmare last summer, capped with a series win in Pakistan this week, and whether it might work in next year’s five-Test series against Australia in the UK.

“If they feel like it’s sustainable to play that brand of cricket when the ball is hooping and seaming then that’s fine,” Warner said. “We will be playing ‘Ronball’.”

“What, sorry? Ah, ‘Ronball’ … McDonald,” said England captain Ben Stokes when asked about the Australians’ made-up version of cricket’s most talked about strategy. “It [making a joke of it] is just natural, I guess, with how we play. ‘Ronball’ doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as well as ‘Bazball’, even if Baz doesn’t like it.”

The architects of ‘Bazball’: England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendan McCullum.Credit:Getty

By June next year, it might not be a laughing matter for the Australians.

This time last summer, England were a team in crisis. Humiliated in Brisbane and Adelaide, the tourists trailed 2-0 heading into the Boxing Day Test. By lunch on day three, they’d lost the Ashes in shambolic fashion.

“England have got some big problems,” former England skipper Michael Vaughan said at the time. “That was embarrassing. I would say that with the group I’m seeing and the way they’re playing, if [Australia] don’t beat England in 2023, I’d be amazed.”

In March this year, England had won just one of their past 17 Tests.

Enter McCullum and ‘Bazball’.

Nine wins from their next 10 Tests, all of which were sealed in mesmerising fashion, has suddenly transformed England from fragile to formidable foes ahead of next year’s Ashes series.

“This is the best England Test team to watch in my lifetime,” Vaughan tweeted this week. “Nine out of 10 Test wins playing a brand we have never witnessed before.”

Vaughan wrote recently that England can now regain the urn.

Joe Root is bowled by Scott Boland during the fifth Test in Hobart earlier this year. Credit:Getty Images

Here’s a statistic that puts into perspective just how remarkable England’s turnaround has been. During series wins against New Zealand (3-0 at home), South Africa (2-1 at home), Pakistan (3-0 away), plus a one-off Test victory against India in a make-up match, England have scored their runs at 4.77 runs an over since McCullum took over.

No team in Test cricket’s 145-year history has scored quicker than that across a calendar year. While the Australian team of 1910 scored at 4.47 runs an over across two Tests, Steve Waugh’s 2003 side were the next best with a combined run rate of 4.08 across 12 matches.

This week England became the first team to beat Pakistan 3-0 in their own backyard and attention has already turned to what should be a fascinating Ashes series.

It was a contrast of styles in Pakistan by Australia and England. Pat Cummins’ men were methodical and patient, before riding the wave when the game quickened up into fourth and fifth gear. England barely took their foot off the pedal.

England celebrates the final wicket in their win over Pakistan in the second Test in Multan.Credit:Getty

“It’s certainly been entertaining,” said Steve Smith recently. “They’re coming out playing their shots. If you come on a wicket that’s got some grass … is it going to be the same? We’ll see what happens.”

Barring injury, Australia will have Cummins and Starc as their two frontline quicks, with either Hazlewood or Scott Boland rolling in as the third quick alongside spinner Nathan Lyon. Between them, they have more than 1200 Test wickets.

‘Bazball’ has certainly eradicated the fear of failure with quick scoring, but is also multi-layered with obscure field settings and bowling changes that has challenged Test cricket orthodoxy.

It is also a resounding tick of approval for Stokes’ leadership alongside a coach with an equally attacking mindset. England were embarrassed by Australia last summer but the possibility of capitulating on home soil to their arch-rivals might be enough to open up old scars.

The scoreboard displays the final score at stumps on day one of the first Test Match between Pakistan and England.Credit:Getty Images

Not according to Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori, a long-time teammate of McCullum.

“They are going to give it a go,” Vettori said this week. “That is what everyone is excited about … that aggressive nature versus an exceptional [Australian] bowling attack.”

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has joined a chorus of observers stunned at England’s transformation.

Their revival has included the emergence of 23-year-old Harry Brook, who has scored three centuries in his past three Tests, plus teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed who became the youngest player since Pat Cummins to take five wickets on debut.

“They were the flattest pitches we’ve seen for a very, very long time … so for them to get 20 wickets three times in a row and win three games and to get the rate of runs to buy them time to get 20 wickets was incredible really,” said Hussain on Sky Sports. “They haven’t won for a long time without [Stuart] Broad and [James] Anderson. That shows the depth in English cricket. Everything they’ve touched has just turned to gold on this tour.”

England’s next red-ball assignment is a two-Test series against the Kiwis in New Zealand. However, Stokes admits he already has one eye on becoming the first England team to beat Australia in a home Ashes series since 2015.

“I don’t like looking too far ahead [but] I obviously have my eye on the Ashes and have got little things about that in the back of my head,” Stokes said. “We will continue to grow as a team and keep enjoying having fun, playing cricket with a smile, and winning as much as we can.”

The odds suggest that such an audacious style of cricket will be hard to execute against such a dominant Australian attack.

“Stokes and McCullum have liberated their players and removed the fear of failure and, as a result, the stench of defeat,” wrote another former England skipper, Mike Atherton, in his column for The Times. “They have entertained and continued to transform the idea of how Test cricket can be played and enjoyed.

“Wait for Australia, some are saying now. Fear not, bring it on.”

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