Bazball

Bazball is an informal term that was coined by ESPN Cricinfo UK editor Andrew Miller during the 2022 English cricket season to refer to the style of play developed by the England cricket team in Test matches following the appointments of Brendon McCullum (whose nickname is Baz) as Test head coach and Ben Stokes as Test captain by English cricket managing director Rob Key in May 2022.

The Bazball style and mindset is said to have an emphasis on taking decisions in attack and defence, whether batting or in the field, that create "positive" cricket to push game towards decisive results in an attempt by England to win more games. These tactical choices have included riskier shot selection as individual players, aggressive batting in match positions where defensive play would be the normal style, declarations in situations where most teams would have continued to bat and avoiding overly defensive bowling choices. The core element of this style was a significant increase in their scoring run rate, which included breaking the record for the highest run rate in a completed Test innings by scoring at 6.5 runs per over for 101 overs against Pakistan in 2022, finishing their first innings on 657 runs. This broke a record that had stood since 1902, with England scoring at a high run rate in many subsequent innings. Many of these skills and strategies were developed in playing One Day International and Twenty20 matches.

The style has had mixed results. Successes against New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies were offset by an away series loss and home series draw against India, an away series loss to Pakistan and a failure to regain The Ashes against Australia with England drawing their home series in 2023 followed in 2025 by a devastating trio of losses in the opening three matches of the five match tour of Australia in 2025.