In an article in the Times on 19th March 2026, former England captain Michael Atherton talked about Bazball Cricket. His contention was that after the constrains of Covid England had come up with the idea of Bazball Cricket. It meant that players would play hard hitting Cricket in a Bazball fashion. However he observed that it was time to resume normal Cricket.
My comments on the subject were published in the Times:
Bazball could never be a way to play cricket. Mike Atherton bigged it up a lot. If England had continued a day would not have been far off when the whole England side would not have reached three figures. With ballers like Bumrah and spinners of every kind how could you justify Bazball ? Is not cricket about taking stock of the situation you are in and playing with caution?. How can just swinging the bat be justified? The result is there to be seen. England failed whenever it tried the Bazball tactic. Mike glamorised it as a new arsenal in English cricket. It never was.
I think it was Dunlop who said he would keep playing Bazball even after a defeat. I think he also said England would beat any runs the opposition scored with the Bazball approach. Bazball was and is Kamakazi cricket and the quicker it is abandoned the better.
Nitin Mehta
20 March.
Recent Comments