Image: England cricket team adapted the Bazball game plan / © OneCricket
Whenever the English team plays a Test match, there is one word that remains in the minds of fans, and it is Bazball. This phrase and the intent came when the legendary New Zealand star, Brendon McCullum, was appointed as the team’s Head coach.
It has been more than 3 years since the team took over the Bazball phase, and the question comes whether they have delivered or it remains just a hype among the fans. In the current series between India and England, the team seemed to be in a challenging spot despite holding a number of advantages.
India missed out on Jasprit Bumrah in the second match and didn’t have much experience in its bowling line-up. Still, the team was able to dominate completely over the English batsmen, which helped them to come out on top in this match. Let’s now take a look at how Bazball has performed and assess whether it has taken English cricket to new heights or put it down.
In order to assess the Bazball era for England and how it has worked, it is also necessary to understand how it originated. It all started in May 2022, when Brendon McCullum was appointed as the new Head Coach of the English team. He has already been known in world cricket for his aggressive batting style, even in the Test matches.
Now, McCullum wanted the English team also to adopt his approach, which led to the origin of Bazball. However, it should be noted that this term has been given by the fans and media, and not the official England cricket team. With Ben Stokes as the captain and Brendon McCullum as the Head coach, it was expected that the team would touch new heights.
Brendon McCullum, who was appointed as the Head coach of the team, goes by the nickname ‘Baz’, and he promoted the style of attacking the ball even in the Test format. Through this, the English team was able to pull up the Bazball era, which started from the summer of 2022.
Let’s take a look at how England has performed in the Home tests under the captaincy of Ben Stokes. He was first appointed as the stand-in captain of the team in the Test match against West Indies in 2020, but his captaincy debut match started with a loss.
| Opponent | Matches | Win | Loss | Draw | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (2022) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| India (2022) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Africa (2022) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ireland (2023) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Australia (2023) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| West Indies (2024) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe (2025) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| India (2025)* | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 19 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
However, he was later appointed as the full-time Test captain of the team in the New Zealand series, which took place in England. This decision was taken by Brendon McCullum along with the coaching staff, and it marked the start of the Bazball era. The team had a great start to this series, winning the first match by 5 wickets.
Since it was the start of the new era, it didn’t stop, as England went on to secure a whitewash against New Zealand, chasing down the total in all three games. Later, when the India tour of England 2021-22 continued, with the series being 2-1 in favour of India, Ben Stokes was the captain of the team.
In the final match of the series, which was also the only game where Stokes had captained the line-up, the Bazball phase was truly visible. England was able to chase down the massive target of 378 runs, winning by 7 wickets in hand. This was not just a win; it was also a challenge to the other teams that went against England in this era.
After a crucial win against India, Stokes and company went for the three-match Test series against South Africa. The start didn’t go in the favour of England, as they lost the game by an innings and 12 runs. However, the team made a great comeback in the next two games, winning by a decent margin.
Now the English line-up was in full control of the Bazball era, as they were rapidly winning matches at Home. Next, Ireland visited England for a one-off Test match, which was also won by England by 10 wickets. Ollie Pope played a commendable double century, which helped England to score a big total in this match.
But the biggest challenge for the Bazball era was just getting started, as in July 2023 came the Ashes. This time, England was hosting the Ashes, but Australia’s dominance can not be denied, as they were heading to the series after winning the WTC final against India.
The first match was on a knife-edge when Australia’s tailenders helped their team to secure a win by 2 wickets. The next match was being played at Lord’s, and this time also, Australia came out on top, winning the game by 43 runs. With these two consecutive losses, there were questions about the Bazball intent, as the series was almost out of hand.
But England went on to win the third match at Leeds by 3 wickets, with Mark Wood showing his dominance. The fourth match ended in a draw, and now the pressure had increased, as England had to win the final match in order to end the series with a draw. Although the team won the last Test by 49 runs, Australia still retained the Ashes, as they had won the previous series.
Tackling this challenge, England faced the West Indies at home, in a three-match Test series. This time also, the team was able to win all three games by a huge margin, and the Bazball era started to trend. Even in the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe, the team was able to secure a win, boosting their confidence ahead of the India series.
Although Bazball dominated in the Home Tests, it has not been as strong in the away games. Under the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum duo, the team has played 15 away Tests and won 7 of them, losing the remaining 8. This also raises some serious questions about the Bazball era.
| Opponent | Matches | Win | Loss | Draw | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan (2022–23) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand (2022–23) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| India (2024) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistan (2024–25) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand (2024–25) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Their away Tests started with the England tour of Pakistan 2022-23, where the team played three Tests. The start of their away journey was great, as the team secured a whitewash in Pakistan, winning all three games by a good margin. Harry Brook received the POTS award, as he scored 468 runs in the series.
The next away series for England was against New Zealand, as they went against each other for a two-match Test series. England had a great start, winning the first match by 267 runs. But the team failed to grab a whitewash even in this match, as they lost the second game by one run.
After the series against New Zealand, the team had a long home season, which was also followed by the 2023 World Cup. Following that, their next away series came against India, where they went against each other for a five-match Test series. This is also called as the time when the downfall of Bazball started in the away games.
England started the series with a win by 28 runs in the first match. But what followed next was a complete disaster for the team, as they went on to lose all the remaining four games. This was the first time in the Bazball era that England lost the series by a huge margin.
Later, the team went for a three-match Test series in Pakistan, where Ben Stokes captained the team in the last two tests. The team started off the series with a win, but lost the second match by 152 runs, which leveled the series at 1-1 ahead of the final match. Once again, England fell short of scoring well in the second innings, which allowed Pakistan to win by 9 wickets.
This was also the second consecutive away series that the team had lost, after which they went for a three-match Test series against New Zealand. England was able to win this time, as they won two games and lost just one. With this record, it can be seen that Bazball has not been successful away from England.
The Bazball intent has helped England to dominate in the Home tests, but it didn’t seem to continue after the team lost in the second Test match against India by a margin of 336 runs.
Mohammad Kaif, a former Indian player, said:
I have never understood the hype around Ben Stokes the captain. On a flat track with the sun shining he decides to bowl, today with some life in pitch edges flying but no extra slip. Batsmen took England to win in first Test but Stokes didn’t score many. Please inform if I have missed any of his hidden leadership master stroke.
This tweet by Kaif has raised some serious questions about Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, as the Bazball era gets close to a fall in the series against India.