Brendon McCullum decried the viral usage of the term ‘BazBall’, coined after his nickname ‘Baz’ in the description of England’s newfound ever-aggressive approach with the bat under his tutelage as Test match head coach. The term means to disturb the opposition lines and lengths and their mindset to an irrevocable degree, force them into submission.
The former New Zealand captain said he has no idea how the term was given birth to, as he also mentioned the lack of understanding amidst the wider populace about his team’s method. He believes there is more nuance and substance in England’s approach than is given credit for outside by the media and the fans.
It’s why he doesn’t think coining ‘BazBall’ and using it time and time again without actually decoying England’s ways and thought process was the right thing to do.
“I don’t have any idea what ‘Bazball’ is. It’s not just all crash and burn, if you look at the approach, and that’s why I don’t really like that silly term that people are throwing out there,”
he told SEN radio’s WA Breakfast show, sitting alongside Australian legend Adam Gilchrist.
Speaking in the aftermath of England’s four successive Test match wins – a highly impressive 3-0 Test series whitewash over New Zealand and a memorable comeback to victory against Indian side in Edgbaston – McCullum divulged a bit on the mental and tactical side of things beneath the term ‘BazBall’.
“There’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers they put pressure on. There’s also times where they’ve absorbed pressure beautifully as well,”
McCullum also responded to a query made by Gilchrist whether his team’s approach is about to change the “landscape of Test cricket”.
“All we try and do is play a brand of cricket which gives the guys the greatest amount of satisfaction and gives them the best opportunity. We’ve also got an obligation to entertain.”
“It’s been a challenging period for those who love the game of Test cricket because society has changed and people don’t necessarily have five days to sit down and watch cricket anymore, so we need to make sure that the product that we’ve got and the product that we’re taking to the people is worthy of their time and is able to captivate some of those imaginations”
he said.
For McCullum, the base idea which gave birth to an unwavering attacking method and style of play was to not leave any stone unturned on the field and be brave in how his team confronts the opposition at any stage of the game.
It’s what they did to India. After the visitors dominated the first three days of play in Edgbaston, they provided England an opening on the fourth afternoon by getting sleepwalked into 245 all out, with a third-innings lead of just 377, not taking the game completely away from the hosts when they had the chance to do.
England took their bait and attacked their way to chase down their record-highest fourth-innings score before even the second new ball was due and lost only three wickets in the process.
During the interaction with Gilchrist, McCullum also gave a confident response to a recent remark from Aussie great Steve Smith, who said it remains to be seen how England persist with this ploy against the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at the next year’s Ashes. The head coach backed his troops to continue taking the game back to the opposition.
