Are England being strategically reckless with Bazball

Dan Abrahams | July 02, 2023

This one is tricky to write…

Tricky because it’s easy for me to get myself into trouble here.

I’m going to respectfully critique what England cricket are doing with their style of play (called ‘Bazball’).

So before I outline my thoughts, I’m going to justify their existence:

1. I write everyday about the complexity of elite sport; I have a very popular podcast dedicated to said complexity; I have worked in the complex landscape of elite sport for 26 years. I know that high performance sport is complex and performance is underpinned multi-dimensionally. But there’s an overt problem with ‘Bazball’ right now.

2. The complaint that one critiques in hindsight is fair…but the reality is one can only critique through knowledge of results and knowledge of performance. I’m not involved in England cricket…so my lens of their game is narrow…but not so limited that I can’t see their behavioural choices.

So…

‘Bazball’ is a performance approach devised by England coach Brendan McCullum that centres on England playing with assertive behaviours and with an emphasis on enjoyment.

Historically, I’ve written glowingly about ‘Bazball’…not because of the improvement it’s had on the England team, but because at its heart lies an accumulation of performance philosophies that sport psychologists have written about for years (a bit of professional nepotism for you there!)

So here’s my (respectful) grenade…

The problem right now seems to be this: England Cricket are adding strategical recklessness into their performance equation as opposed to solidifying assertiveness and dominance.

For me (opinion) ‘Bazball’ would do well to focus on the central human conditions it espouses:

1. Approach behaviour - to assert oneself on one’s environment…to move towards rather than away from

2. Intrinsic motivation - to engage in the game for the sake of enjoying participating in the game

By engaging in both of the above the theory is that improvement in performance and results will follow. And if they don’t, then that’s ok!

Back to the grenade…

England are conflating approach behaviour and strategy.

Their brand of assertive cricket is a mix of front-foot play and strategical aggressiveness to the point of recklessness. This is unwise and foolhardy.

They’re running at the sabre tooth tiger (approach behaviour) but doing so recklessly…and getting eaten (or in cricket terms, getting out!)

A better idea?

Approach behaviour + intrinsic motivation + strategical intelligence…

A golfer can aim for the middle of the green and swing with confidence…

A tennis player can keep a rally going but do so by executing aggressive ground strokes…

A football team can set up defensively but play on the front foot

A boxer can aim to avoid getting hit but move forward and dominate the centre of the ring…

England cricket…you are amazing. You are bold and brave and brilliant in your creation of ‘Bazball’. But strive to manage your game plan.

Play on the front-foot…intelligently!