The Ashes 2023: ‘Bazball’ down but not out after thrilling Test match

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN

(CNN) — Australia managed to steal victory from England’s in the first game of the 2023 Ashes series on Tuesday and take the first bragging rights in cricket’s biggest rivalry.

At Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, the traveling side narrowly edged a two-wicket victory thanks to an incredible effort from captain Pat Cummins as the game reached its conclusion.

As all brilliant Test matches do, the game ebbed and flowed over a drama-packed five days, and even after all that cricket, the game was won by the slimmest of margins.

In the best-of-five contest, there is still everything all to play for and, after seeing England’s new brand of cricket – dubbed ‘Bazball’ – up close, Australia will know that there is still a lot of work to be done over the next month and a half.

What is ‘Bazball?’

In most cases, sport tends to be quite straightforward – teams or individuals play to win, and happiness, livelihoods, and legacies are based on results.

But when it comes to the England cTest team and its current regime, winning or losing is a by-product of a more important game – revitalizing cricket’s oldest format with a never-seen-before style of play.

England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum have taken it upon themselves to try and change the perception of Test match cricket through their style of ‘Bazball.’

While ‘Bazball’ has not made it into the dictionary yet, its definition is fairly straightforward.

Free-spirited, aggressive, and entertaining cricket is always implemented by Stokes and co. and with a clear ideology, players have been allowed to thrive – as seen throughout England batter Joe Root’s daring two innings of brilliance.

Andrew Miller, UK Editor of ESPNcricinfo, coined the term ‘Bazball’ and explained to CNN Sport’s Don Riddell that out of tragedy, McCullum’s New Zealand team of years gone by learned to play with a new mindset.

“It’s named after Baz McCullum, the coach, and I figured when he came on board as England’s coach, England would play in the way that he captained his New Zealand side back in the day,” Miller outlined.

After the tragic death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes in 2014, New Zealand still had to play a Test match the next day and the team “emptied their brains” before stepping foot on the pitch.

“’[There was] no thought that this is important, no thought that this matters, let’s just go and hit the ball hard’ – and they did, and they suddenly realized: ‘We’ve tapped into a mindset here of complete fearlessness.’”

Following the first Test loss, Stokes touched on the team’s ideology and how the importance, or lack of, his team places on the outcome of games.

“Not putting the result at the top of everything that we think about actually really helps us go out and play free-spirited cricket,” the England captain explained in a postgame press conference.

Despite this methodology, Stokes still acknowledged that “losing sucks,” after the defeat to England’s oldest rivals.

“I know everyone who came out, bought a ticket and supported us and everyone who watched on TV would have loved to see us win.

“We’re desperately upset for them that they didn’t manage to see England get over the line but if people haven’t been on the edge of their seat throughout this whole Test match, then I’m not quite sure what will in cricket.”

Captain fantastic

Up against ‘Bazball’ stood Australia and a more traditional style of Test match cricket.

The Aussies came into the game full of confidence following a dominant win in the World Test Championship final against India but would have been wary of what was to come.

But when it looked like Australia was on the cusp of losing after four imperious days of cricket from the England team, Cummins stood up for his side and took them to victory.

“It was a truly sensational performance from an outstanding cricketer,” Miller said of the performance from the Australian captain.

The fast bowler took four wickets for Australia during England’s second innings, but while being known for his skill when bowling, Cummins also delivered with the bat on this occasion.

Adding to his 38 first innings runs, the 30-year-old scored an unbeaten 44 to win the game during the dramatic final day, withstanding pressure and probing bowling to claim a dramatic victory.

“It’s about having that belief that anyone is a match-winner, you could be the one to step up and win it,” the match winning captain. “When you’re in the backyard playing as a kid you wish to be in these moments, to be here in an Ashes series, that’s what you want and it’s great to be on the winning side.”

Alongside Cummins, Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon starred for the visitors.

Like Cummins, the veteran cricketer is known more for his ability with the ball than the bat but did enough to see Australia to a famous win.

Across the match, Lyon took eight wickets – four in each innings – but his 16 runs in the final innings of the game will surely be his most memorable contribution from the thrilling spectacle.

Doubling down

Despite the loss, and criticism from some cricketing circles, Miller believes that England will continue with its free-spirited style of play.

“This is why the ‘Bazball’ mentality is so important because they are coming up against an incredibly good team,” Miller said after England’s loss. “These guys ripped England apart in the last Ashes 4-0 and England were lucky to lose 4-0.

“England have got to this point knowing that they have absolutely transformed the parameters of a side that had won one Test in 17 when Ben Stokes took over.”

England have since won 11 out of 14 Test matches with Stokes and McCullum at the helm.

Stokes concurred with Miller, adding: “It was the big question before coming into the series about whether we could continue our style of play against such a good Australia team and even though we’re on the wrong end of the result here, it proves that we literally went toe-to-toe throughout the whole game here.

“We’ve got four Tests left and that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on.”

“It’s gonna be a ride all summer long,” Miller concluded – summing up how the whole of the cricketing world feels ahead of what will be a tension filled summer.

The second game of the five game series will begin on Wednesday, June 28 at the famous cricket ground Lord’s in London.

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