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Cricket News: Brendon McCullum does not like the term “BazBall” | Brendon McCullum chats about “BazBall” after England’s wins

England Test head coach Brendon McCullum has expressed bemusement at the term ‘BazBall’. The former Kiwi skipper has indicated that the phrase misses the finer aspects of his team’s newfound approach towards the red-ball game.

ESPNCricinfo’s UK editor Andrew Miller coined ‘BazBall’ prior to England’s Test series vs New Zealand to outline the positive approach that Ben Stokes’ men could adopt under McCullum’s stewardship.

BazBall is a silly term – Brendon McCullum

England have found a new lease of life ever since the 40-year-old took over coaching responsibilities last month. They have won four Tests on a trot and have chased down totals in excess of 270 runs in all of those games.

“I don’t have any idea what ‘BazBall’ is. It’s not just all crash and burn, if you look at the approach, and that’s why I don’t really like that silly term that people are throwing out there,” McCullum told Adam Gilchrist in the WA Breakfast show of SEN radio, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

He added, “Because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers they put pressure on. There’s also times where they’ve absorbed pressure beautifully as well.”

ALSO READ: List of highest run chases by England in Tests

McCullum also warded off suggestions that England’s ultra-attacking style has propelled a transformation in the landscape of Test cricket.

Instead, he explained that the side just plays a brand of cricket that gives them the best opportunity and the greatest sense of satisfaction simultaneously. Further, the head coach added that they have an obligation to entertain the audience as well.

“It’s been a challenging period for those who love the game of Test cricket because society has changed and people don’t necessarily have five days to sit down and watch cricket anymore, so we need to make sure that the product that we’ve got and the product that we’re taking to the people is worthy of their time and is able to captivate some of those imaginations,” McCullum opened up on his thought process.

ALSO READ: Want to ensure that people keep watching Test cricket – Brendon McCullum

He explained that such a style of cricket resonates really well with the players as well. Moreover, McCullum asserted that England have been able to block the ‘external noise’ created by the British media. He attributed that to be an instrumental reason behind their recent success.

“The media over here, it is a huge beast and sometimes the negative and the positive can seep into an environment. One thing we’ve tried to do is just be totally honest with one another and try and block some of that external stuff out and quieten down some of that noise. I think that’s helped,” the captain-turned-coach was quoted as saying in the aforementioned chat show.

England’s next red-ball series will be against the touring South Africans next month. The first game of the three-match contest will begin at Lord’s from 17^th August onwards. However, Stokes’ team has an uphill task to climb up the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 rankings. Currently, they are placed in the seventh spot with 64 points from 16 matches.