Bazball

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Miffed at England's 4-1 shellacking by India, former captain Nasser Hussain has advised the team's misfiring batters to work on individual performances and eschew their obsession with bazball. Bazball, which is derived from England Test coach Brendon McCullum's nickname Baz, fell flat as the tourists capitulated in three days in the fifth and final Test here, helping India secure their 17th straight Test series triumph on home soil. "We just get lost with this term Bazball. The team, the management does not like the term Bazball. They need to look at their own individual performances," Hussain, who led England in 45 Test matches from 1999 to 2003, wrote in his column for Sky Sports. He added, "Look at the opposition. Like in anything in life, try and learn. Why did we collapse? "Why Crawley keeps getting starts and keeps getting out? Ben Duckett, got a brilliant 150, gave a charge when the ball was too new." By his standards, skipper Ben Stokes had a forgettable series and that wa

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England under Ben Stokes are not big on team meetings and prefer organic conversations about the game to get the best out of players, says the team's batting mainstay Joe Root. Root, who is yet to make big runs in the ongoing Test series against India, has fully bought into England's aggressive style of play in the longest format. Their five-match series against India is locked at 1-1 after the hosts bounced back to trump 'Bazball' here on Monday in the second Test. "We don't really do team meetings anymore. That's one of the great things about how we do all of our conversations away from the game and just that enjoyment and buzz about spending time with each other," Root had told 'Jio Cinema' before the game here. "We don't have to sit in a meeting room and I think it's more authentic and more genuine when you can have it around a dinner table. Having a coffee in the morning or whatever, I think that's when you do your best learning," he said. England found themselves trailing Ind

India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj believes England's much-hyped 'Bazball' strategy won't work in Indian conditions and if the visitors go with their ultra-aggressive approach then the match may get over within two days. 'Bazball', a hell-for-leather attacking batting approach, coined after Test team head coach Brendon McCullum, has given England tremendous success last year but it will face its baptism by fire on sub-continental tracks, which offer turn and bounce in equal measure. "If England play Bazball in Indian conditions, the match might get over within a day-and-a-half or two. It's not easy to hit every time here as the ball turns sometimes and straightens on other occasions," Siraj told 'Jio Cinema' on the eve of the opening Test beginning here on Thursday. "So, I think it'll be difficult to see Bazball here. But if they play it, it'll be good for us as the match may get over quickly." Talking about his preparations for the tour, Siraj said: "On their previous tour to India,

Bazball has been so successful that the only drawn Test England have played since its introduction was forced on to them by rain gods at Old Trafford in 2023 when they were in a winning position

England's "lack of match preparation" in India ahead of the gruelling five-Test series could be a "problem" but the team can bank on its 'Bazball' approach to upstage Rohit Sharma and his men, feels Alastair Cook, who led the Englishmen to a memorable Test triumph in the country back in 2012. Having opted for a month-long training camp in 'subcontinent-like conditions' of Abu Dhabi, Ben Stokes and Co. arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday, just four days before the opening Test on Thursday. "A problem England will have is a lack of match preparation," Cook, who had top-scored with 562 runs in the 2-1 come-from-behind win over India in the 2012-13 series, wrote in his column for 'The Sunday Times'. "It is the nature of the modern tour. When we won in India in 2012 we had three warm-up games against good sides -- Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay were in the top four in the India A side we faced and Cheteshwar Pujara played in one of the other games," he recalled. "...I can ...

'Bazball' has made its way to the Collins dictionary in recognition to the bold, risk-taking style of play adopted by the England men's cricket team under red-ball coach Brendon McCullum. The term was coined after former New Zealand captain and opener MCcCullum, who is popularly known as 'Baz', took over the reigns as England's Test coach in May 2022. The the term since been used widely especially during this year's Ashes series, where England rallied from 0-2 to draw the series 2-2. Listed as a noun, Bazball is described "a style of test cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner," in the dictionary. Its origin is noted as C21: after Brendon McCullum, known as Baz (born 1981), New Zealand cricketer and coach. However, McCullum is not a fan of the term. "I don't have any idea what Bazball is. I don't really like that silly term that people are throwing out there," he had last year. When asked about the inclusion of

Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting said England's 'Bazball' approach had left the Australians a befuddled group during the Ashes, which saw the Englishmen making a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down. Australia led the series 2-0 after the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord's but England bounced back to make the series scoreline 2-2 with wins in the third Test at Headingley and in the fifth Test at the Oval. The rain-marred fourth Test at Manchester ended in a draw. Though the Aussies managed to retain the Ashes urn, former captain Ponting said the home side gave them a tough ride. Australia are yet to win a Test series in England since 2001. Talking to SEN Radio, Ponting explained, "The two contrasting styles of play were great to sit back and watch. There was a lot of talk about Bazball and how England would approach it, and would that style stand up against the quality of the Australian attack. "It probably had some of the Australian players, coaches and the captain

The swashbuckling opener Zak Crawley said England's upcoming tour to India in January -March 2024 presents them with an 'amazing opportunity' to showcase 'Bazball' but adapting to conditions will be the key. India will host England in a five-match Test series next year, and talks are already on about whether the latter would be able to follow their aggressive brand of cricket on Indian pitches. The series, for the Anthony de Mello Trophy, gets underway in Hyderabad with the first Test scheduled from January 25-29, the second Test is at Visakhapatnam (February 2-6), the third at Rajkot (February 15-19), the fourth at Ranchi (February 23-27) and the fifth and final Test at Dharamsala (March 7-11). "I don't really know much about their grounds," Crawley was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo after the conclusion of the Ashes series against Australia. Among the five venues, the last time Hyderabad and Rajkot hosted a Test was in 2018, while Ranchi and Visakhapatnam last played hosts in .

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Bazball approach, promoted by England coach Brandon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes is being blamed for the team's tantalizing two-wicket loss in the first Ashes Test