Ashes 2023: 'Bazball' - England's bold Test cricket strategy in numbers

One year on from the introduction of the famous ‘Bazball’ strategy to the cricketing world, Ben Stokes-led England prepare for arguably their toughest assignment till date — The Ashes. And that too on home soil.

Sure, things have changed for the good since their 2021-22 Ashes debacle Down Under, with the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum (Who is referred to as Baz by followers) and an able captain in Ben Stokes reorganising England’s brand of Test cricket into something more aggressive and dynamic.

The upcoming series, however, is going to be unpredictable in all aspects, so much so that Australia, revitalised under their latest skipper Pat Cummins, almost got all bases covered in their recent World Test Championship (WTC) triumph over India.

The WTC final, in fact, saw how good the Australian pacers were, as far as their short balls and the ability to produce the extra bounce were concerned. Even without the injured Josh Hazlewood, the Aussie pace attack of Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green and Scott Boland teamed up to take a combined tally of 14 wickets out 20 against India.

Steve Smith, however, gave England a timely warning that their Bazball technique might not work against the deadly Aussie pace attack.

“I’ve enjoyed watching how they’ve played. We’ll wait and see how it comes off against us,” Smith had said last week. “I said when Bazball started that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers, I’ve said that all along,” he added.

“It will be difficult on this kind of pitch, which is up and down and seaming around. It’s not easy to defend, let alone come out and swing.

“They’ve done well against some other attacks, but they haven’t come up against us yet. We’ll wait and see how it comes off against us,” the 34-year-old further explained.

Only time will tell how this resurgent England team comes up against Australia, and with the Ashes fast approaching (16 June), let’s now take a look at some numbers that have defined England’s Bazball era:

• Before McCullum and Stokes took over as England head coach and captain in the summer of 2022, England had just one win in 17 Tests to their name. And now, a year later, England have gone onto win 11 Tests out of 13 under the duo.
• As far as their aggressive brand of cricket is concerned, England batters have hit it out of the park for most number of times. In 2022, they set the record of most sixes (89) in a calendar year, off just 15 matches. They broke India’s record of 87 in 2021, which had come off 14 Tests.
• Last year, England also set the highest Test run-rate by any team. England batters enjoyed a run-rate of 4.13 from 15 Tests in 2022.
• As per an ESPNCricinfo report dated 31 May, Harry Brook holds highest Test strike-rate since 1 June, 2022. Brook enjoys a strike-rate of 98.77 in Tests during this period, with Rishabh Pant (97.77) behind him. The list also includes five other England batters — Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
• Harry Brook, the 24-year-old, only made his England Tes debut in September 2022, against South Africa at The Oval. Brook has so far amassed 818 runs from 826 balls just the seven Tests he has played since, at an average of 81.80. Brook could soon become the fastest batter to 1000 runs. New Zealand’s Tim Southee holds that record currently, taking 1132 balls to reach the 1000-run mark. Brook has scored four centuries and three fifties so far.
• It’s not just the batters who have enjoyed success during the Bazball era. England’s bowlers have taken 20 wickets in 12 of the 13 Tests, with only exception being in their defeat to South Africa at Lord’s last year.
• According to Sky Sports, James Anderson had become the first 40-year-old seamer to play for England since Les Jackson in 1961. Anderson also became the oldest bowler to top Test bowlers’ rankings since Clarrie Grimmett in 1936.

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