21 November

‘Bazball’ has definitely lifted England’s winning rate, almost doubling it. It also leads to spectacular losses, but I’m sure they’ll take the winning rate as the true test. (It was also introduced by a New Zealander, which follows a long tradition of England needing to import expertise and talent, to win at anything). However, England still isn’t winning at the same rate as the Australian teams in the early 2000s, who didn’t use Bazball. They just played aggressive cricket, as Australia always does, including aggressive defence when needed. Bazball is mostly a psychology thing, a way to stop players going into their shells under pressure. But Australia was already doing that. The current Oz batsmen aren’t though, they’re playing like England used to play.