Why did ‘Bazball’ fail to regain the Ashes? Premium

Up against a great Australian side, England discovered that there is an essential limit to the competitive advantage ‘Bazball’ offers because it is an approach, for the most part, to batting. And it’s bowling that typically wins Test matches and series

‘Bazball’ is an approach to batting in Test cricket championed by former New Zealand captain and current England head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum. It involves taking chances more frequently than is the norm, aiming to score as quickly as possible at the cost of losing wickets more often.

‘Bazball’ has dominated the conversation in the 2023 Ashes, and in Test cricket more generally. So much so that after the fourth Test at Old Trafford was drawn due to rain, ECB chair Richard Thompson suggested that the rain rules should be modified. Thompson said he would speak to the ICC chair and make him understand that England has “elevated [Test cricket] and reinvented the way [it] has been played.”

And yet, Australia retained the Ashes despite losing almost 500 Test wickets worth of quality and experience to injury one and half Tests into the series. Why did ‘Bazball’ fail to regain the Ashes at home? Part of the answer is that this is a great Australian side led by a fast-bowler who will almost certainly finish as one of Australia’s greatest-ever bowlers. The other part of the answer has to do with an essential limit to the competitive advantage ‘Bazball’ offers because it is an approach, for the most part, to batting.

Test series are typically won by the superior bowling side. This is almost always the one which delivers a higher percentage of deliveries with greater control and quality than the opposition. This requires quality and depth. Having one truly great bowler supported by three or four average bowlers is almost always worse than having three or four very good bowlers. As is shown in Table 2, England has had the better attack in every series since McCullum took the England job, except the 2023 Ashes.

But first, consider the average total per 10 wickets for each team in Test cricket since the start of the Covid pandemic, as shown in Table 1. This period is divided into two parts to highlight the ‘Bazball’ era record. 

The period from July 2020 to May 2022 included two away series for England — India (2021) and Australia (2021-22) — in which the batting conditions were very difficult. If these are excluded, England’s average 10-wicket total in 17 pre-‘Bazball’ Tests starting in July 2020 is 330 all out in 105.0 overs. On those two tours, England averaged 200 all out in 71.0 overs. 

In the ‘Bazball’ era, England has averaged 391 in 81.0 overs per 10 wickets — the promised trade-off of quicker runs for more frequent dismissal is evident in this record.