It must be noted that this is not the first time Bazball has been questioned with many arguing that there have been several games England have let slip by taking this approach, however this is the first time it has come under serious scrutiny.
England started their tour of India in supreme fashion, the miraculous comeback in Hyderabad was a Bazball tale that many had seen before.
With critics silenced for the meantime, it would not take long for them to once again voice their concerns as the tourists lost four consecutive tests, the last in Dharamshala being the most damaging with Indians sealing a crushing victory by an innings and 64 runs.
The damaging way in which England lost their last test of the tour arguably only intensifies the negative reaction to Bazball, however shining a light on the three other losses, they were all tests in which England did have a shot at victory.
This recent tour appeared to be characterised by a weak English middle order. There are numerous examples of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett steering England to a strong start, but once the first wicket fell, disaster would typically strike for the English and a flurry of wickets would follow.
An optimist would say that it is rather refreshing to see England show some solidarity with their first wicket duo, but it is concerning to see their most destructive batters occupying the middle order, fall for meagre totals.
Zoning in further on such batting woes, the form of star players such as Joe Root and Ben Stokes is a concern that greatly lingers following this tour.
Credit where credit is due, Root in the face of large criticism from the media hit what some would label an ‘anti-Bazball’ century in the fourth test, achieving a total of 122* whilst striking at a rate of 44.53, however his average for the series would finish at 35.55, a low average considering this figure is greatly aided by his achievement to carry his bat following the conclusion of the first innings during the test at Ranchi.
Ben Stokes on the other hand did not make any large strides during this tour. Looking back five years, Stokes was the world's best test cricketer, fast forward to 2024, the all-rounder has had a lot of obstacles thrown his way and his comeback has been nothing short of commendable, but outside of his strong captaincy, he has been a shell of his destructive shelf from his previous years, and in the context of this series; the captain scored at a measly average of 19.90.
The poor form of both England’s former and current captain contains an air of irony, before the introduction of McCullum to the England set up, the national team faced constant struggles, and the only silver linings was the class shown by both Stokes and Root.
With the tour now at a conclusion, it now leaves the question as to whether Bazball is a viable option for the future of England.
There are numerous avenues this debate could drive through, but the primary concern of course is the extent to which this approach to the game is one that will take England to the very top?
England have played 23 tests under the helm of McCullum, amassing a win rate of approximately 52%.
But their aggressive approach to the game has been their own worst enemy on occasions. One example that frustrated the masses was their game plan during the second Ashes test at Lords, with the English managing to put on 200 runs for the loss of only three wickets, the Aussies opted to shift their bowling approach in an attempt to swing the test back in their favour. The option to bounce out the English batters proved to be successful as instead of soaking up the Aussies pressure, England maintained their aggression which consequently ended up in a disappointing collapse, and an uncompetitive reply to the tourists first innings total.
On that point, one aspect that Bazball must incorporate is game management. They must know when to exert pressure and when to soak up pressure, it is not a necessity to consistently add runs at a relatively high rate. Albeit England did show signs of this in the fourth test against India, but their middle order needs to understand that their role as the engine room in the order does not mean that they must accelerate the batting innings. Looking back to the days of Flower and Strauss, the middle order of Bell, Collingwood and Prior enabled England to test glory by harnessing their balance of patience and aggression, the return of such a middle order could be the magic key for England.
Another change that is essential is the and although this could in a sense be classed as an individualistic one, England should shape their batting innings around Joe Root. One area I admire about this England team is their togetherness, they win together, they lose together, there is very rarely any ‘finger pointing’ and on the surface level they will take any blame placed on them as a unit.
It is clear that this is not a team for an individual and they want to win as a collective, but I do believe they are overlooking the generational skills of Joe Root. There have several situations in which Root will be his proactive self and get off the mark but end up getting dismissed by putting his foot on the pedal a little too hard.
I for one adore seeing the innovative Bazball approach, it is nothing short of entertaining seeing twisting scoop shots and brutal boundaries, but in the case of Joe Root, even though he has attempted to adopt the Bazball approach and in that team hit some magnificent totals, we just are not seeing the Joe Root of former years.
A viable approach would be to let Joe Root stick to his usual batting mindset, weighted aggression, precision and poise should be his approach. Let other players such as Crawley and Duckett maintain their 100mph aggression, but if England were able to build their totals around the Joe Root of old, they would likely be able to find a balance between their Bazball neo-aggression and traditional test patience.
If England could implement such changes, I believe they would be able to find the tactical sweet spot their batting craves, however it must be made clear that there should be no questions over the future of Brendon McCullum. Since his introduction, the English faithful as well as the cricketing world have been treated to a revolutionary new side of the game. Every coach and team will have their pitfalls, but if there is one thing this side has shown us, they will frequently prove the doubters wrong.