When Joe Root slammed the ball through midwicket to win the most recent Lord’s Test for England it was a window into the most mesmerising of futures. They’d just chased down 279 against a decent New Zealand side; the World Test Champions, no less.
But that was just the start of ‘Bazball’, the term coined in the honour of new coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum, who has insisted that his side go out and be positive. In the Second Test at Trent Bridge they conceded 553 in the first innings but then posted 500+ themselves and later chased down 299 as Jonny Bairstow delivered one of the greatest Test centuries of all time. By the time they turned a collapse to 55/6 into 360 all out and then knocked off a target of 296 in the Third Test it just felt like the most inevitable thing in the world.
There was just time to add a national record fourth innings chase of 378/3 in the rearranged Fifth Test against India and, just like that, the first half of England’s summer had accounted for many of their greatest exploits in decades.
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It is tempting to back England to do the same all over again in the forthcoming three-match series against South Africa, which begins back at Lord’s on Wednesday. Since captain Ben Stokes and head coach McCullum were appointed, the drama has been endless. The blockbusting batting of Bairstow, Root and Ollie Pope have been the highlight, but the contributions have gone far deeper than that.
Matty Potts’ 18 wickets in his first run in the senior side, 17 more for Jimmy Anderson’s never-ending collection and 14 for Jack Leach including a timely first career 10-wicket match at Headingley have limited opponents just enough to give the buccaneering batters half a sniff at victories. From there, England have been utterly fearless.
And timeless. Anderson has turned 40 since that India Test but he remains as indefatigable as ever. He’ll make his 173th Test appearance on Wednesday but he shows no signs of wanting to hang up the bowling boots. With 657 wickets and the willingness to keep on going, it might not be too much to expect him to push the late, great Shane Warne’s tally of 708 career dismissals.
“It’s just a number next to my name, it’s not how I feel,” Anderson told reporters of his recent entry into the forty-somethings. “I don’t feel old or that I’m slowing down, I don’t have any personal goals. I just want to keep enjoying my cricket.
“During the Tests earlier in the summer I felt really invigorated by the way we were asked to bowl as a bowling group, it was a change of mindset. I love the aggressive nature of it and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”
South Africa will be keen to prove that England can’t keep treating Test matches like The Hundred forever. Captain Dean Elgar has had them playing improved cricket of late, leading to them topping the World Test Championship, although the trips to England and Australia which lie in wait will be a measure of just how far they’ve come.
The tourists are also missing gun bowler Duanne Olivier, who is on his way home after tearing a hip flexor, but have Kagiso Rabada fit again to complement Lungi Ngidi in the seam attack. Elgar might not have the natural attacking mentality of Stokes or McCullum but he has proven he can get a tune out of a side which was previously hammered 3-1 in successive series against England on these shores in 2017 and then in South Africa in 2019-20. Yet this series presents the kind of task the Proteas have not faced in some time, and England’s new approach is something Test cricket has not encountered for even longer.
The next few weeks might not be the ultimate examination for Bazball but it will at least give us a feel for whether there is anything approaching longevity in a more gangbusters style of cricket at this level. Hold on to your seats, because it’s going to be some ride.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
