Posts Tagged “England”
Bazball's back: The Down Under edition
A few years ago, I wrote about Bazball, the radical English cricketing approach that had led to victory after victory. It was about to face its greatest test - an Ashes series against the old enemy, Australia, who also happened to be the newly crowned World Test Champions.
The result was a drawn series - the previously unstoppable Bazball machine didn’t wilt, but nor was it able to consistently dominate. Australia retained the Ashes, and England vowed to regroup and prepare for a successful Australian campaign. Well, now they’re here on Australian soil, with the first Test starting tomorrow.
Some running Ashes commentary
Last week, I wrote about Bazball and the ongoing Ashes series, including some predictions of how it might go. So I wanted to keep a running commentary on how those predictions are going, and the unexpected ways the series twists.
Brave British Bazballers meet Accomplished Aussie Ashes-holders
It was about this time last year that we first heard about Bazball. The English Test cricket team had had significant away losses to both Australia and the West Indies, but now they were at home with a new captain, a new coach, and a new approach.
At first it seemed like it couldn’t last, but then it turned into an almost unstoppable winning machine: In the lead up to the Ashes they had won eleven out of thirteen matches under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, while also seeing some truly remarkable individual and team performances.
Now the approach faces perhaps its sternest test, against the old enemy and newly minted World Test Champion Australia. The team that last week dug deep and took first blood.