How much Bazball is too much Bazball? That has been the question fans and experts are been left wondering ever since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum joined hands last year to form a sizzling combo to not only take England cricket to greater heights but to indeed revolutionize Test cricket!
Call it audacity, or boldness, or courage, or simply madness, but Ben Stokes’ mantra of taking the draw out of the equation – 11 Tests, 2 losses, 0 draws so far – has brought more viewers to Test cricket, keeping them on the edge of their seats.
With his captaincy and some of the decisions and choices he’s made, while filling his team members with an incredible amount of confidence and belief, the sheer excitement of it all has been palpable.
Here are 3 captaincy decisions by Ben Stokes that shocked everyone:
Declaring after batting only 58 overs on Day 1 against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, 2023
At the Bay Oval last year, Skipper declared England’s innings after only 58 overs of batting first at the score of 325/9. That seemed in no way a winning first-innings total. His batters had scored a terrific run-rate of 5.6, and thus even in a couple of sessions, they had scored 325 runs, albeit while losing 9 wickets.
With Robinson and Anderson as the last pair, English Skipper thought there was little they could gain in asking the two tailenders to bat, and instead, on a greenish surface, put him in to bowl and have a crack at the Kiwi batters, before the conditions get better for batting. It was amongst the shortest Day 1 declarations made in Test cricket history.
Stokes’ decision was vindicated as New Zealand lost Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, and Henry Nicholls inside 14 overs and it was England who walked out of Day 1 the happier and more confident side.
New Zealand were bowled out for 306 and England again pummeled at a quick rate in their second innings, at 5.05. New zealand got bowled out for 126 in their second innings, and England won by 267 runs.
Bazball in full flow in Rawalpindi, 2022)
Until this point, the Bazball era had well and truly begun, but their wins, or moments, have come at home against New Zealand, South Africa, and India. Their first away challenge came in Pakistan, where the hosts produced some of the flattest-ever pitches.
On Day 1 of the series, England showed Bazball’s might by finishing 506/4. They ended their first innings at 657 and Pakistan replied with 579. A draw was the most likely result.
On a flatbed in Rawalpindi in the first Test, where forcing a result would take an incredible amount of courage, Stokes, however, knew he had to dangle the carrot for Pakistan, giving the opposition the feeling of having enough time to chase their target and also his bowlers to take 10 wickets to win the match.
So Ben Stokes declared England’s second innings in only 35 overs at Tea on Day 4, giving Pakistan a target of 343 which was chaseable on this flat Rawalpindi surface. Stokes’ bowlers didn’t let him down, and it took real hard graft from the England bowlers to bowl Pakistan out for 268 in the dying light on Day 5 and win a memorable Test.
Another brave declaration, this time in the Ashes!
The biggest Test was Stokes and his Bazball team was that of Australia in the Ashes 2023. And the England Test skipper made his intentions clear on Day 1 itself that he wasn’t going to be fazed by the might of the opponent, who are the World Test Champions.
After electing to bat first, England were 393/8 in 78 overs with Joe Root batting at 118* and Robinson giving him good company at 17* (31). When everyone was thinking that England would want Root and Robinson to bat for as long as possible, even into Day 2, and get England to near 450, English Skipper decided to declare with Root still in there! This declaration decision stunned and shocked and surprised everyone, be it fans or ex-cricketers, and perhaps even the Australians.
Ben Stokes decided to declare because he wanted his bowlers to have a crack at the England openers in the last four overs of the day after they had fielded throughout the day. Although Broad and Robinson – another shocking move was to not give Anderson the new ball – didn’t pick a wicket in those 4 overs, there was clear uncertainity and fidgestness in Warner and Khawaja.
