Despite being a lifelong Spurs fan what I look for in sport more than great individual performances or a team I support winning, is a competitive encounter.
The India v England Test series which concluded today with England losing the final Test within 3 days, and the series 4-1 was at best only fittingly that. Of course and it needs to be underlined the Indian cricket team, even without some key players, is a brilliant one. There is no shame in England losing in that sense, rather its the abject nature of some of the defeats that is an issue.
Under coach Brendan McCullum and captain Ben Stokes England have played several Test series now using a method that the media have dubbed Bazball. The idea is to play fast and competitive cricket, bringing the excitement of short form cricket to the longer Test game.
Since short form cricket is eating longer for,m games on a global scale with ever more T20 franchises, in principle its not a bad idea.
The problem is, as the current series has demonstrated, is that when excitement means getting out to poor shots, hitting sixes rather than building an innings and then just getting out, Bazball becomes Boreball. A Test match that is meant to last 5 days ending well within 3 days with no peculier circumstances is not a great advert for the game.
What is to be done?
The England team with its well known liking for golf seems to resemble in part a kind of mates club, all too familiar in the wider British class system. The administration and selection processes of English cricket are run by people with a similar mindset to those who run British politics with similar results
I’m no fan of The Hundred but short form cricket in itself is not at the root of this. The Indian side has renewed itself and flourished at least in part thanks to the success of the IPL.
England don’t play another Test until July. Time enough for Bazball to be reviewed and at least a move to a model of Bazball Mark 2 to be tried, getting a better balance between exciting cricket and competitive and sometimes even winning strategies.
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