Thanks Gideon, insightful as always. I’m enjoying all the hoo-hah about Bazball immensely. Yes, it’s enjoyable to watch assertive if not aggressive play. It’s great to see risks being taken. But, and it’s a very big but, the philosophical nonsense is inane, and the press conferences are self deceptive, self indulgent, and self serving. Ben Duckett, a fine, attacking opening batsman, was simply ludicrous a couple of weeks ago. Stokes is turning into a weird mix of Alan Border at his grumpy best, Mick Malthouse at his most obscure, and Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil.
As Gideon & others have pointed out, the bowling is a defensive pick hoping for miracles and/or favorable conditions
I get the mentality to be fearless & not worry about defeats, but this is a test match & playing for a draw pushes the opposition closer to defeat. So playing for a draw is a legitimate winning strategy (narrows chances of defeat but also could end-up prioritizing draws over wins)
I think England had to make up their mind, if they wanted to emphasise safery first approach with more draws or go all or nothing that increases chances of both wins & defeats
I was disappointed with England's first innings attempts. Root's irresponsible shot in Rajkot & Ollie Robinson's ill-advised shot in Ranchi both triggered a first-innings collapse that could easily have given England more runs & reduced the chances of defeat
In olden days, Rajkot would have been a boring draw but England suffered one of their worst defeats there. Not acceptable, imo.
He's a great player with tremendous competitive spirit and all the rest of it, but the ENG captain's initials best describe what he spouts in post-match pressers.
Aw c'mon Gideon, going line by line through Stokes' after match summary, forensically examining every single sentence for context and consistency, is pretty lame. There isn't a sportsperson anywhere, in any sport, who doesn't spout inanities immediately after coming off the field, and usually in response to inane questions from sports journalists. Sure Stokes is the captain and being 3-1 down puts him under pressure, so what do you expect him to say other than look for something, anything, that puts a positive spin on things? Have you ever critically examined every post match presser from Australian cricket captains when Australia hasn't performed to expectation? What did Pat Cummins have to say after his team let slip a 2 nil lead in last years Ashes to scramble out with a very lucky 2 all draw? It must be nice to have the luxury of time to go through the captain's after match summaries with a fine tooth comb days after the match, looking for inconsistencies and departures from the teams stated match plans. Not one of your best efforts I reckon.
Bazball pressers are a genre of their own, Greg, and they're actually far from inane - a lot about the approach is in the messaging, in victory as well as defeat. You're welcome to ignore that but you're missing out on the fun!
Quote E: “The scoreline reflects an abiding gap in quality between the teams”. Isn’t that the point? Even acknowledging the term “Bazball” shows a lack of imagination I never I thought I’d see in your writing but publishing a piece that sniffily takes at face value a defeated captains post-match comments? I’m surprised. As said above I’m sure you’ll have heard a lot worse, closer to home, without scratching out 600 words. What should he have said – “Yeah, we were shit?”. And as much as I was appalled by Duckett’s earlier comments I really think there’s an element of piss-taking from the England players towards the press.
What actually constitutes success in India these days / the last twelve years?
Anyway, I continue to love the show and would like to request a GH / PL top ten songs on “This Nation’s Saving Grace”.
Since the last innings in Rajkot, Bazball has gone for a snooze. Look at their run rates and what is their Bazball version of bowling teams out. It is only one way traffic with Bazball. India were without Kohli, Pant, Shami, KL, Bumrah and they deserved to win
An English teammate at our club concluded that the Baztalk plays an essential role - along with the game style - in helping an average team become more than the sum of their parts. Seems bizarre that professional athletes’ performance would be influenced by exaggerated comments in a press conference…
If you can’t enjoy what the Stokes McCullum era has brought to test cricket you’re really missing out. England had years of Sibley, Burns and Denly as a top 3 - dire to watch and did nothing for promoting the game. This side aren’t world beaters, but are genuinely entertaining to watch. Aussies seem to have a strange attitude towards them, given the constant bashing of a term phrased not by the squad itself!
An abiding feature of the Bazball era in ENG has been the complete absence of any discussion of ENG as a cricket team. Losing is going to bring those things into focus. The consequences will be interesting to watch.
Thanks Gideon, insightful as always. I’m enjoying all the hoo-hah about Bazball immensely. Yes, it’s enjoyable to watch assertive if not aggressive play. It’s great to see risks being taken. But, and it’s a very big but, the philosophical nonsense is inane, and the press conferences are self deceptive, self indulgent, and self serving. Ben Duckett, a fine, attacking opening batsman, was simply ludicrous a couple of weeks ago. Stokes is turning into a weird mix of Alan Border at his grumpy best, Mick Malthouse at his most obscure, and Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil.
As Gideon & others have pointed out, the bowling is a defensive pick hoping for miracles and/or favorable conditions
I get the mentality to be fearless & not worry about defeats, but this is a test match & playing for a draw pushes the opposition closer to defeat. So playing for a draw is a legitimate winning strategy (narrows chances of defeat but also could end-up prioritizing draws over wins)
I think England had to make up their mind, if they wanted to emphasise safery first approach with more draws or go all or nothing that increases chances of both wins & defeats
I was disappointed with England's first innings attempts. Root's irresponsible shot in Rajkot & Ollie Robinson's ill-advised shot in Ranchi both triggered a first-innings collapse that could easily have given England more runs & reduced the chances of defeat
In olden days, Rajkot would have been a boring draw but England suffered one of their worst defeats there. Not acceptable, imo.
He's a great player with tremendous competitive spirit and all the rest of it, but the ENG captain's initials best describe what he spouts in post-match pressers.
Aw c'mon Gideon, going line by line through Stokes' after match summary, forensically examining every single sentence for context and consistency, is pretty lame. There isn't a sportsperson anywhere, in any sport, who doesn't spout inanities immediately after coming off the field, and usually in response to inane questions from sports journalists. Sure Stokes is the captain and being 3-1 down puts him under pressure, so what do you expect him to say other than look for something, anything, that puts a positive spin on things? Have you ever critically examined every post match presser from Australian cricket captains when Australia hasn't performed to expectation? What did Pat Cummins have to say after his team let slip a 2 nil lead in last years Ashes to scramble out with a very lucky 2 all draw? It must be nice to have the luxury of time to go through the captain's after match summaries with a fine tooth comb days after the match, looking for inconsistencies and departures from the teams stated match plans. Not one of your best efforts I reckon.
Bazball pressers are a genre of their own, Greg, and they're actually far from inane - a lot about the approach is in the messaging, in victory as well as defeat. You're welcome to ignore that but you're missing out on the fun!
Quote E: “The scoreline reflects an abiding gap in quality between the teams”. Isn’t that the point? Even acknowledging the term “Bazball” shows a lack of imagination I never I thought I’d see in your writing but publishing a piece that sniffily takes at face value a defeated captains post-match comments? I’m surprised. As said above I’m sure you’ll have heard a lot worse, closer to home, without scratching out 600 words. What should he have said – “Yeah, we were shit?”. And as much as I was appalled by Duckett’s earlier comments I really think there’s an element of piss-taking from the England players towards the press.
What actually constitutes success in India these days / the last twelve years?
Anyway, I continue to love the show and would like to request a GH / PL top ten songs on “This Nation’s Saving Grace”.
Since the last innings in Rajkot, Bazball has gone for a snooze. Look at their run rates and what is their Bazball version of bowling teams out. It is only one way traffic with Bazball. India were without Kohli, Pant, Shami, KL, Bumrah and they deserved to win
It’s the new, sadder, less interesting Britpop.
An English teammate at our club concluded that the Baztalk plays an essential role - along with the game style - in helping an average team become more than the sum of their parts. Seems bizarre that professional athletes’ performance would be influenced by exaggerated comments in a press conference…
As Pez says, the cricket is good (mostly). It's the 'suck off' that ... sucks!
nicely said, Gideon. I'm happy to watch England play, but the hubris and frank dishonesty afterwards is not edifying.
If you can’t enjoy what the Stokes McCullum era has brought to test cricket you’re really missing out. England had years of Sibley, Burns and Denly as a top 3 - dire to watch and did nothing for promoting the game. This side aren’t world beaters, but are genuinely entertaining to watch. Aussies seem to have a strange attitude towards them, given the constant bashing of a term phrased not by the squad itself!
But what about the moral victories scoreline? By that account, England are leading 3-1, at least.
An abiding feature of the Bazball era in ENG has been the complete absence of any discussion of ENG as a cricket team. Losing is going to bring those things into focus. The consequences will be interesting to watch.
nice!