Follow UsBazball, in its first look, might seem all about batting fast. However, in its infancy, England under Ben Stokes & Brendon McCullum actually bowled the opposition nearly every single time, attacking as much with the ball as they did with the bat. In fact, in the first 34 innings of Bazball, England took 338 wickets. The only two wickets they did not take were against Australia in the first Test of the 2023 Ashes.
In Bazball’s first 18 matches, no team declared against England because they could not get into that position. However, in the second Test match at Edgbaston, not only did India declare, but England were not even giving a scare to India with their bowling.
This approach of theirs led to former England captain Nasser Hussain deducing the biggest negative of Bazball style of play.
“That’s the negative of Bazball, these bowlers hardly get a rest. Watching this England team is just so much fun. Long may it continue. One of the consequences of Bazball, though, is that their bowlers bowl so quickly – on flat pitches in back-to-back matches, they come in tired. They look tired and frazzled,” Hussain had said on Sky Sports after the third day’s play when England played only 90 overs and their bowlers bowled for 151 overs in the first innings.
In the second innings, too, English bowlers bowled for 83 overs and India took advantage of a dissuaded English bowling and fielding by scoring at 5.14 runs per over.