Maybe England captain Ben Stokes in the aftermath of his side’s loss in the first Ashes Test should have channelled his inner Marcus Decimus Meridius and uttered: “Are you not entertained?”
It’s hard to argue that anyone watching that first Test at Edgbaston, which at times was akin to a gladiatorial contest, wasn’t enthralled from the first ball to the last.
Cheeky first day declaration? Check. Funky fields? Check. Even funkier bowling changes (what the hell was Harry Brook doing bowling to the world’s best batter on the second day of a Test?)? Check.
England did the attacking. Australia did a cricketing “rope-a-dope” — rolling with the punches, landing a few of their own, hanging on, engaged in some subtle taunting of the hosts and then through their skipper, Pat Cummins, landed a stunning combination in the last hour to win.
And it’s OK to pick apart England’s tactics. That is after all what commentators, journalists and fans must do, but what isn’t up for questioning is England’s mindset. Test cricket needs more of what Stokes and England are offering.
Selling the Ashes is easy. There’s more than a century’s worth of history, but selling other Test cricket in the 21st century amid the plethora of T20 Leagues, the innumerable ICC World Cups, other sports and the age of TikTok has become extremely challenging.
Test cricket is also a financial burden for most of the ICC’s affiliate boards. Providing a better product, as the England side is doing, is something to be encouraged. Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has expressed his admiration for Stokes, as have many others.
Test cricket doesn’t need gimmicks like day/night Tests or four day Tests. It needs its protagonists to play in a fashion more befitting the times we live in. That doesn’t mean to be reckless. Elements of England’s play at Edgbaston may have appeared that way, but they weren’t.
It’s worth casting your mind back to a year ago, when South Africa confronted “Bazball” in England.
At the time, they took the very stupid approach of not wanting to say, as then Proteas captain Dean Elgar put it, the “B word”.
South African won the first Test at Lord’s, playing in an efficient and disciplined fashion, allied to invigorating fast bowling led by Kagiso Rabada. Do you know what England said after the loss? They needed to go harder and lean even more into their attacking ethos.
After the Edgbaston defeat, head coach Brendon McCullum repeated his line from a year ago: “We’ll go a little harder (in the second Test).”
What England actually did was be more conventional in the second Test, particularly with the bat, and the only time in that series — which they came back to win — when “Bazball” as it is imagined by the public came to the fore was in the fourth innings run chase at The Oval, when they chased 130 in 22 overs.
The Proteas have sought to apply some of the thinking to how they want to play Test and one-day cricket. It is unlikely Bavuma will make a first day declaration when India tour here this summer but the Proteas Test skipper wants a more positive approach from his players. He wants to challenge them and draw out of them the almost childlike need to have fun.
It will demand taking risks and will undoubtedly cause anger among supporters, but if Test cricket is to endure at a time when so many obstacles are being put in front of it, it’s an approach that must be encouraged.
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