England’s Bazballers have left our shores, having lost the Ashes series and with their playing code widely panned. But was it the code or the execution that was responsible for England’s defeat?

Bazball’s name was a journalistic invention, a catchy term for a philosophy of play brought to England’s Test team by new coach Brendon (‘Baz’) McCullum in 2022. It stood for playing with positive intent with bat and ball, a counter to the careful conservatism that is never far from the surface of English cricket.

At the time of McCullum’s arrival, England had won just one of their previous 17 Tests. They had become stale, lacking imagination, playing by rote with little sense of what more they might achieve by thinking differently about the game. McCullum brought the different way.

But what, exactly, is Bazball? Above all it is about playing positively. It is not just about scoring at a fast clip; it is also about taking wickets by prioritising attack over saving runs. It is about eschewing draws, at least until there is no other live option. But it is not about profligacy with the ball in the face of opponents’ aggression, any more than it requires attacking with the bat at all costs and uncaring of risks. Test cricket often requires careful, considered batting to retrieve difficult situations, and bowling to restrict the other side’s scoring. It’s not just all bash........

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