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How to stop BazBall?

Nathan Lyon has taken a shot at England’s Test side, labelling Bazball “a load of s***” in an interview on an Australian TV Show

Appearing on the show while taking questions from the hosts sat on stools in front of him, Lyon was asked what Bazball was. He responded: “Well I’m 2-0 against Bazball so I’m pretty happy about it.

“To me it’s a load of s*** if you ask me. It’s a brand of cricket that the English want to keep going, now it’s in the dictionary which is pretty remarkable.”


Wisden
 
If the pitches are anything like the WC final, Bazball is going to flop so bad, it's going to be embarrassing.
 
Depends on the pitch.

If venue is Mumbai or Delhi, Bazball can thrive.

If venue is Kolkata, Chennai, or Lucknow, Bazball should backfire.
 
On rank turners I don't think defensive technique will also survive. The approach should be something in between bazball and defence with lot of footwork, sweep shots and positivity.
 
The Indian team has declined in Test cricket.

Going to be tough to beat Bazballers with the players we have right now. Pujata and Kohli look done. And Pant's unfortunate injury has wrecked the middle order further
 
Nikhil_cric said:
The Indian team has declined in Test cricket.

Going to be tough to beat Bazballers with the players we have right now. Pujata and Kohli look done. And Pant's unfortunate injury has wrecked the middle order further
Click to expand...

England's Bazball is mostly done by Stokes, Bairstow, Butler etc.

Once they retire, they may not be able to keep on doing this.
 
Simply by denying playing test cricket with England :D

Otherwise one thing is for sure they are not going to change their playing style.
 
2nd test between recent India-Bangladesh series and now Pakistan vs England 1st test. Both of these results wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for BazBall.

BazBall really revolutionised Test Cricket 🫡.
 
Mamoon said:
Let’s be clear - Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have zero respect for Test cricket.

They think they are too smart for the format, they are too smart for all the other teams and they are too smart for the way the format has been played for over a century.

It is their arrogance and self-righteousness that would lead to the demise of Bazball and it will be very sweet and satisfying to witness.
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Certainly very sweet and satisfying to witness. Bazball and Stokes’ captaincy was exposed when they produced the exact same outcomes in the Ashes and India as Root’s England did.

Bazball has been one of the biggest scams in Test cricket history. Two bang average Test batsmen (Mac & Stokes) who weren’t good enough to average 40 think they know how to bat in this format? Clearly not.
 
2022 - Bazball shining in Rawalpindi

2024 - Bazball passes away in Rawalpindi

Cause of death: Shanball
:shan
 
Bazaball was never effective except on home tracks or flat tracks.

Entire Eng batting line up has been useless in Ind, Aus and SA in the last 5 years. Even in Pak-Eng series, flat tracks in first test, Eng scored heavily. Turn in the last 2 tests and batting line up of Eng became useless.

Having said that, bazzball is a good aproach for Eng due to limitations in skill set.


Eng batting line up in the last 5 years in Aus, Ind and SA.

1729946788166.png
 
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India on the verge of losing two test matches in a row in England, defending 350+

Bazball is a killer
 
India got Bazballed.

England is a very difficult team to beat at home. But their pitches do reward positive, attacking cricket.

India's bowling and fielding was just really poor.
 
England played smarter than before. What Stokes said before the game about being more resilient etc seems to have taken in by the players.
 
Hello? This is customer support. I heard you have a query how to stop Bazball?

Oh England are hitting too many run?

Don't worry We will send our Bazball stopping specialist. He will be with you in 3-5 working days.


1750786814938.jpeg
 
Wasn't really a Bazball. Just a very good batting performance from all. If anything, the only real bazball moment came when Stokes' ego made him play the reverse sweep after the field change and got out. So that bit of bazball actually failed. The rest of the knocks were just high quality batting which is especially laudable considering Bumrah-Siraj had a very good opening spell. England were smart enough to see that out and attack the bad or ordinary balls.
 
Make bowling pitches, they dont have defense against exaggerated seam/swing and spin. On good wickets they'll outbat you easily
 
Bazball is on a halt at the moment
===
England brought up 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ in 35.4 overs - it's their second slowest century in any innings of a Test in the Bazball era 🐢

Their slowest was 37.2 overs - also against India, in Rajkot (2024)
 
It was an entertaining few years but everything ends.

Credit where it’s due to Indians for ending it.

Bumrah delivered as the GOAT

OLLY POPE batting at 29 (83) as we speak lol

Respect to England for acknowledging the threat they’re facing right now and changing their way of life
 
Bazballers were reduced to 37-6 #IND vs Eng.

Best way stop bazzballers is to let them self destruct.
 
Geoffrey Boycott smashed Ben Stokes & England:

"They never learn, because they never listen to anyone outside their own bubble, because they truly believe their own publicity".

Geoffrey Boycott even warned Ben Stokes at start of Ashes that they are not preparing well & are under cooked but Ben Stokes arrogantly gave him the reply through media that, "There's a lot of factors that have changed over the years of cricket", so they should keep their advice in their pocket.

I mean entire Australian team played shefield cricket before entering the Ashes, some played 2 games some played 1. Atleast hear what legends from past are saying, now there is 11 days gap, I hope they arrange a practice match with some australian domestic side.

www.telegraph.co.uk

I cannot take this stupid England team seriously anymore

The batsmen threw away a winning position yet again, and that made the bowlers look average
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
 
Bazball mostly works on flat pitches and in England.

I don't think you can do Bazball on turning tracks or in Australia. You are likely to collapse 8 out of 10 times.

Bazball is not a long-term solution. It is a band-aid. :inti
 
sweep_shot said:
Bazball mostly works on flat pitches and in England.

I don't think you can do Bazball on turning tracks or in Australia. You are likely to collapse 8 out of 10 times.

Bazball is not a long-term solution. It is a band-aid. :inti
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It was in reply to this comment after England's defeat today @cricfan432
 
I don’t even think we can attribute this second test loss to Bazball, it was just poor batting all over and a real stinker for all the bowlers and fielders in the first innings. If you’re going to turn up to play in Australia with such a poor attitude when bowling and fielding, you don’t deserve to win, and you won’t.
 
I flipping loved Bazball.

Some epic chases mainly at home but they pushed test cricket along a bit. Teams are no longer comfortable with even 420 targets in the 4th innings because England have shown you can chase it.

The way they clattered Pakistan after we rolled out phattas was spectacular too. They showed that batting on phattas doesn't have to be tuk fests for a draw.

But sadly England are judged only on the Ashes. Many were happy to overlook the draw warm up series against India because they had one eye on the ashes, but in hindsight, if you can't get a victory over an Indian side that can't even win at home, then it a sign the side is struggling.

It's likely that unless a miracle happens this will be the end of Bazball.

Thanks for the good times though Baz.
 
The base level of English cricket is consistently below Indian and certainly Australian cricket over years, decades in fact.

The 4-0/5-0/4-1 results in India/Australia reflect this, and they find it exceedingly difficult to beat these two sides at home too.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I flipping loved Bazball.

Some epic chases mainly at home but they pushed test cricket along a bit. Teams are no longer comfortable with even 420 targets in the 4th innings because England have shown you can chase it.

The way they clattered Pakistan after we rolled out phattas was spectacular too. They showed that batting on phattas doesn't have to be tuk fests for a draw.

But sadly England are judged only on the Ashes. Many were happy to overlook the draw warm up series against India because they had one eye on the ashes, but in hindsight, if you can't get a victory over an Indian side that can't even win at home, then it a sign the side is struggling.

It's likely that unless a miracle happens this will be the end of Bazball.

Thanks for the good times though Baz.
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England lost in India and Pakistan. England even drew against India at home.

I don't think Bazball was effective overall. They did poorly in all WTCs.
 
sweep_shot said:
England lost in India and Pakistan. England even drew against India at home.

I don't think Bazball was effective overall. They did poorly in all WTCs.
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Before it they lost 14 matches in a row or something.

He gave players some confidence and for a while it worked. But they aren't good enough yet to adapt to a plan B when required.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I flipping loved Bazball.

Some epic chases mainly at home but they pushed test cricket along a bit. Teams are no longer comfortable with even 420 targets in the 4th innings because England have shown you can chase it.

The way they clattered Pakistan after we rolled out phattas was spectacular too. They showed that batting on phattas doesn't have to be tuk fests for a draw.

But sadly England are judged only on the Ashes. Many were happy to overlook the draw warm up series against India because they had one eye on the ashes, but in hindsight, if you can't get a victory over an Indian side that can't even win at home, then it a sign the side is struggling.

It's likely that unless a miracle happens this will be the end of Bazball.

Thanks for the good times though Baz.
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Sure. A 5 test series at home against a team whom you haven't beaten in almost a decade is a warm up to a series 5 months away on other other side of the planet.

Bet that sounded really smart in your head before you typed.

May Pakistan be filled with intellect of this caliber!

BTW, get around to telling to clarifying what hindu athiest is in the TP thread.
 
The most ironic thing about Bazball is that England have completely failed to apply it to ODI cricket, a format where you would think that it would have a high rate of success. Their ODI team right now is the worst it has been since 2015... and that's been the case for a while now. And despite seemingly having all the right players they can't buy a win.
 
I think teams have now figured out how to stop Bazball.

All you have to do is give them spicy pitches. That should neutralize Bazball.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
The most ironic thing about Bazball is that England have completely failed to apply it to ODI cricket, a format where you would think that it would have a high rate of success. Their ODI team right now is the worst it has been since 2015... and that's been the case for a while now. And despite seemingly having all the right players they can't buy a win.
Click to expand...
The simple thing is Roy and Bairstow/Hales were quite consistent for their style of play as compared to the likes of Smith, Duckett, Crawley etc. And Brook is no Morgan who was an assertive and cerebral leader. It often goes under the radar but the openers haven't fired for England for last few years. And the Morganesque backbone is nowhere to be found ever since he retired.
 
Bazball is fine and gave English test cricket an adrenaline boost but only if Stokes didn't make some street cricket blunders like declaring on day 1 of Ashes at home, the results would have been better. They certainly don't need to go back to boring attritional batting but if they can make some logical decisions like bringing in a better opener than Crawley (someone like Compton) and Stokes not making howlers in tactics, they'll be fine.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
The most ironic thing about Bazball is that England have completely failed to apply it to ODI cricket, a format where you would think that it would have a high rate of success. Their ODI team right now is the worst it has been since 2015... and that's been the case for a while now. And despite seemingly having all the right players they can't buy a win.
Click to expand...
It's the conditions/kookaburra ball. Batting in ODI cricket across various phases is far tougher nowadays (2021-) than it was in 2013-2020.

SL, for all their lack of resources, have a better process to fall back on. Asalanka in the post match correctly identified the poor execution by pace bowlers at the death as the team's biggest issue and saw scope for improvement there.

Harry Brook, ever since he became captain, at every post match and pre match interview "We need to absorb pressure and then go harder " . That's all he ever says - or at least some variation of this.

I don't think they even know what's wrong with their ODI cricket now that McCullum also got did of their Cricviz analyst
 
BunnyRabbit said:
Bazball is fine and gave English test cricket an adrenaline boost but only if Stokes didn't make some street cricket blunders like declaring on day 1 of Ashes at home, the results would have been better. They certainly don't need to go back to boring attritional batting but if they can make some logical decisions like bringing in a better opener than Crawley (someone like Compton) and Stokes not making howlers in tactics, they'll be fine.
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It took the indecisiveness out of play for players that are mainly inconsistent such as Crawley and Pope.

Honestly it worked quite well for a while.

But having a plan B to fall back on is difficult because it will automatically introduce that indecisiveness back.

Personally I don't see how Mcculum can continue.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
It took the indecisiveness out of play for players that are mainly inconsistent such as Crawley and Pope.

Honestly it worked quite well for a while.

But having a plan B to fall back on is difficult because it will automatically introduce that indecisiveness back.

Personally I don't see how Mcculum can continue.
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By slightly changing his methods and saying no to Stokes for once. Listening to reason and logic at times. Not everything has to be about optics and how the fans are going to see you. The fans care about the results. If he gets England back to winning in all formats, (eg Bayliss and Farbrace in LOIs), I don't see why he can't continue.
Listening to logic is getting rid of guys like Crawley when you clearly have better ones like Ben Compton.
Pope needs to be give an axe as well. There are guys like Josh Bohannon who's been doing well in county circuit for quite a while. Bethell's is a newbie and his domestic record doesn't inspire much confidence but when you watch him bat, he clearly looks like someone much better than his domestic stats.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
It's the conditions/kookaburra ball. Batting in ODI cricket across various phases is far tougher nowadays (2021-) than it was in 2013-2020.

SL, for all their lack of resources, have a better process to fall back on. Asalanka in the post match correctly identified the poor execution by pace bowlers at the death as the team's biggest issue and saw scope for improvement there.

Harry Brook, ever since he became captain, at every post match and pre match interview "We need to absorb pressure and then go harder " . That's all he ever says - or at least some variation of this.

I don't think they even know what's wrong with their ODI cricket now that McCullum also got did of their Cricviz analyst
Click to expand...
Making Brook captain so early seemed like a premature move even back then. He hasn't solidified his position in LOI teams and they have given him captaincy as well. They could have gone for a safer option with captaincy experience.
 
BunnyRabbit said:
Making Brook captain so early seemed like a premature move even back then. He hasn't solidified his position in LOI teams and they have given him captaincy as well. They could have gone for a safer option with captaincy experience.
Click to expand...
The problem for Brook is that there's no one in that setup to challenge the status quo even a little bit.

He himself is pretty much the poster boy for "Bazball".

And if they keep losing ODI's like they have been, this is going to get ugly.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
The problem for Brook is that there's no one in that setup to challenge the status quo even a little bit.

He himself is pretty much the poster boy for "Bazball".

And if they keep losing ODI's like they have been, this is going to get ugly.
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Seems like in LOIs, his method is if it works it works, if not, hell with it. Doesn't like to alter or adapt his batting in ODIs. Also complained about pitches in SL not being good for ODIs. If it was a pitch where teams would bundle out for less than 100, it would make sense. But for a pitch where 220 something was successfully chased, I don't think it would be that bad.
 
BunnyRabbit said:
Seems like in LOIs, his method is if it works it works, if not, hell with it. Doesn't like to alter or adapt his batting in ODIs. Also complained about pitches in SL not being good for ODIs. If it was a pitch where teams would bundle out for less than 100, it would make sense. But for a pitch where 220 something was successfully chased, I don't think it would be that bad.
Click to expand...

They have never liked tough, slow pitches where they had to grind runs out.

It wasn't the ideal ODI pitch but you need such diversity in pitches to keep things interesting.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
They have never liked tough, slow pitches where they had to grind runs out.

It wasn't the ideal ODI pitch but you need such diversity in pitches to keep things interesting.
Click to expand...
Contrast this with 2013 Ashes, where Eng made slow and low pitches and ended up helping them win 3-0
 
Nikhil_cric said:
They had Cook, Trott and Bell and a ridiculously good spinner in Swann, back then.
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Cook was out of form. Bell did well in that series. Swann yes.
But the thing is Andy Flower had prepared England to play that way in that series. Their plan was, if they can tire out Australians on the field, they'll win it and they did. Pattinson fell first, Bird's immaturity showed with consistent full deliveries every time he got impatient. was probably the best batter in the series.
They don't plan and prepare in advance anymore.
 
McCullum at this point is just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks. Rehan Ahmed plays a quick-fire knock down the order, next game he is opening the batting. And why is the side packed with so many all-rounders? He's lucky he has someone like Joe Root or this team would be in an even worse place.
 
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