“It did not come from Baz”: Jonny Bairstow clueless on origin of Bazball in England Test team

Jonny Bairstow has said that he has no idea where the term ‘Baz Ball’ came from, and it is just a name given by media.

After the Ashes defeat last year, the English team was in shambles, and things worsened after the West Indies series. England went in their home test summer with a new captain and coach. Ben Stokes was named the captain of the side, whereas Brendon McCullum came in as red-ball coach.

The duo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum changed the way in which the side played test cricket. The New Zealand test series was their first assignment, and the English side whitewashed the World Test Championship winners. They chased 299 runs in Nottingham, which was the highest chase by any team at the ground.

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England then defeated India to level the series 2-2, and the home season ended on a perfect note when they won the 3-match series against South Africa. Jonny Bairstow emerged as one of the most important batters of the side under the leadership of Stokes and McCullum.

Jonny Bairstow clueless on origin of Bazball

English opener Jonny Bairstow, who is currently injured is working as a pundit for BT Sports in Australia vs England T20I series. Between the breaks, he was asked about the term Baz Ball. The way the English team has played this season in red-ball under Brendon McCullum has been terrific, and it has been termed as Baz Ball.

Bairstow said that he has no idea where the term Baz Ball came from. He said that it did not come from Brendon McCullum, and only the media and journalists started talking about the same. Bairstow insists that they are playing in the way in which Ben Stokes and McCullum want them to play.

“We’ve no idea where Baz Ball came from. It didn’t come from Brendon McCullum, that’s for sure. It came from the media and the journalists,” Jonny Bairstow said on BT Sports.

“What is Baz Ball? It’s nothing for a start. It’s a way in which the group of guys have come together, the way in which Ben & Brendon have said how we want to go by.”

The English side has played an aggressive brand of cricket in the red-ball, and Bairstow said that he wants to change the way in which people see test cricket. Bairstow reminded that they need to inspire the kids to play test cricket when there is a plethora of franchise cricket going around.

“We want to change the way people viewed test cricket and inspire kids to play test cricket,” Jonny Bairstow added.

“When there is a layer of franchise cricket going around the world. How would we inspire the next generation of cricketers to play test cricket.”