It’s curtains for Bazball: England sacks Brendon McCullum as Test coach | Cricket News
The passion of English cricket Brendon McCullumHis tenure as a Test coach ended with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sacking him on Sunday after four years in the job. The ECB, however, retained its services for white-ball teams.Sunday’s development is a culmination of what has been a turbulent eight months Ben Stokes hung up his boots in difficult conditions two weeks ago, and one that saw England suffer Ashes humiliation in Australia and a 1-2 defeat to New Zealand at home last month. McCullum’s dismissal, thus, officially brings down the curtains on ‘Bazball’ – a manic brand of ultra-aggressive Test cricket that McCullum and Stokes will usher in 2022.“Of course, I’m gutted not to continue, but I respect the decision. My focus now is to give everything I have to the White Ball teams and help England continue to improve,” said McCullum in a release issued by the ECB. ECB CEO Richard Gould said the time was right to make a change as they target an Ashes victory at home next summer.McCullum’s interest in English cricket can be traced back to 2015 when Eoin Morgan revived the team’s white-ball performance, culminating in the 2019 World Cup victory, fueled by McCullum’s spirited leadership that took New Zealand to the 2015 ODI World Cup final.Bazball has charmed the cricket community at large, but its biggest success has probably been winning over conservatives in English cricket with action thrillers within the conventional format of Test cricket. Not only did it pull England’s Test cricket out of a hole under the leadership of Joe Root, it freed Root himself as a batsman. Batting with an intention to score around 4.5-5 runs per over and chasing scores of over 350 in the final innings of a Test match, McCullum works on a principle of blurring the lines between all three formats of the game.In its first year, spectacular wins over New Zealand and India at home followed by a drubbing by Pakistan on their almost-concrete pitches, upset the world order. From proud standard-bearers, the England team became strong and then unwavering about the brand of cricket they started playing. Players often talk about how they are mercenaries in Test cricket. However, the stunning results avoided it. In these four years, England failed to win against Australia and India besides falling out of contention for the World Test Championship title.The cracks in their game started to show last year when an inexperienced Indian team under new captain Shubman Gill repeatedly challenged their ‘we-will-chase-down-anything’ approach in a series that ended with a 2-2 scoreline.It was a brand of cricket that flirted with the boom-orburst model. It captivated the cricketing world when it came out, but the consistency has always been remarkable. During the tour of India last year, Root and Stokes showed that they deviated from this with a more restrained approach according to the situation of the match. The ash is an implosion and now it is likely to be buried.‘Bazball’ announced to the world that there is another way to play Test cricket. If only it were understood that this is not the only way.
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