England’s coach has a long history of being uncomfortable with the term that burst into the public’s consciousness in 2022, his first summer in charge.
Messages from the dressing-room that were enthusiastically retold by players during media interactions – think Stuart Broad talking about “running towards the danger” – built into the Bazball legend.
England’s Bazball Test cricket approach transformed their fortunes (Photo: Getty)Giving the players freedom to express themselves, stating results were not the be-all and end-all and the “we don’t do draws mantra” fuelled Bazball mania.
This was always wrong. But it didn’t stop England protesting about the name.
This week, speaking to Jos Buttler and Broad on their For the Love of Cricket podcast, McCullum went one step further, saying: “I think there’s a bit of a misconception about how we play, that we swing the bat as hard as we can, we try to take wickets and then we go for a round of golf and a few beers.
“I find it slightly disrespectful to all of you guys [the players] and all of the people in the set-up who work so hard and have such clear determination of wanting to succeed, to have that so simply categorised, almost. It’s amazing. It’s almost like we’ve come up with the term. We haven’t come up with the term.”
“I find it slightly disrespectful.” Brendon McCullum admits he’s not too fond of the ‘Bazball’ label pic.twitter.com/U0IAz53bU8
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) September 9, 2025Only teams that change the approach to their sport radically are ever bestowed with a nickname for their distinctive style. It’s the ultimate accolade – think the Dutch and Total Football or Barcelona and tiki-taka.
They have evolved from that first summer and are a better team because of it. Is the approach infallible? Of course not. But it makes them damn competitive.
But collapses and the England cricket team have always been synonymous with each other. At least the Bazballers are entertaining to watch. And, as McCullum has said from the very start, they will win more than they lose – 25 to 14 so far – playing this way.
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In his first media interaction as coach, McCullum signposted this would happen. “My first job is to try to bring a real fresh kind of approach and a relaxed kind of style – to simplify things somewhat, strip away some of the stuff that sits on the outside that doesn’t really matter but can affect you as a person and keep things as relaxed as possible,” he said at Lord’s in May 2022.
Australia are next up this winter. It is a huge opportunity. But it will be a step into the unknown for McCullum, who admitted on that podcast this week that he was unsure of what to expect.
This is the nub of McCullum’s latest Bazball protest. He knows the Australians are ideologically opposed to his methods. They hate what, in their eyes, they represent – English arrogance, a disrespect for how Test cricket should be played (ie. the “Australian way”), and the pomposity they feel comes from statements like McCullum saying he hopes his team can help save Test cricket.
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David Warner, speaking earlier this year, said: “I don’t know if Bazball is a myth now but I can’t see it happening in Australia. If that is the way they go it’s going to be high tempo, high energy and we’ll all get a couple of days off at the back end.”
It’s going to be brutal for England from the moment they land in Perth in early November. The whole Aussie cricketing ecosystem will do everything in its power to derail, diminish and destroy Bazball.
England have a huge opportunity to do something special in Australia this winter. But only if they lean into the Bazball legend.
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