“Smart Cricket”: AB de Villiers Defines Bazball

Former South African captain AB de Villiers has defined Bazball as “smart cricket”. Bazball is indeed Test cricket’s youngest but most entertaining product at the moment. de Villiers’ assessment has come in view of the ongoing first Ashes 2023 Test match between England and Australia at Edgbaston.

No short of box-office entertainment during his playing days, de Villiers cited another highly entertaining example of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings calling the shots in the Indian Premier League on the back of being the “best team“. Putting England in the same category, de Villiers explained how Bazball will aid teams in adapting to unforeseen circumstances such as weather conditions.

For the unversed, the Ashes opener of this year has been unsurprisingly interrupted by the rain on two out of five days. However, England captain Ben Stokes surprising everyone by an early declaration on Day 1 proved to be crucial in terms of saving a lot of time. Had the hosts followed an orthodox approach, this match might have ended up as just another ordinary draw. Thus, would’ve ended up getting bereft of a thriller status!

AB de Villiers Defines Bazball

However, Stokes’ decision is being considered as a masterstroke now due to the current match situation which sees all four results possible in the last one hour. de Villiers also pointed out the same and said that that decision now makes so much of sense to everyone.

The former Royal Challengers Bangalore batter further said that Bazball is a sensible approach regarding result-oriented matches. According to de Villiers, the best teams are those who know how to adapt to different conditions even by playing risky shots in order to be in winning positions.

I never looked at the Birmingham weather leading up to this Test match. The way England played now makes sense. Call it what you want, some say Bazz Ball, I just think it’s smart Cricket. The best teams are prepared to adapt and play situations in a way that’ll ultimately put…

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) June 20, 2023

While only 32.4 overs were bowled on Day 3, the whole first session of Day 5 got washed out due to rain. England’s all-attack approach in this match has played a part in making this all the more game interesting. It is noteworthy that the home team scored at a run rate of 5.04 and 4.12 in the first and second innings respectively.

Dale Steyn Validates Bazball

Before de Villiers, former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn had validated England’s approach of playing Test matches in this way. Certainly in awe of the novel concept, he had tweeted to notice how England are playing the game differently than other nations.

So you can’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but England are certainly spinning it a different way to everyone else.

I like it. 👍

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) June 19, 2023

It is worth of a mention that England are yet to lose a Test series under head coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes thus far. Bazball surely comes with its risks but this team management is ready to lose fascinating matches than be part of dull draws.