sport news 'Bazball' is redefining Test cricket, with England playing in a way we never ... trends now
Soon after England treated a target of 378 with a ruthlessness bordering on contempt, it became clear that their toughest challenge in the months ahead may be finding new ways to explain one of the most staggering turnarounds in all of sport.
On June 1, they had won one Test out of 17 and become, once again, the laughing stock of world cricket. Now, they have won four in a row against New Zealand and India, the two finalists in last summer's World Test Championship.
And they have done it in a style that has mocked Test cricket's prevailing wisdom, solemnly handed down the generations over 145 years on slabs of marble.
England treated their target of 378 against India with a ruthlessness bordering on contempt
Joe Root (left) and Jonny Bairstow (right) both hit centuries in another remarkable run chase
Of the many statistical gems to emerge from the revolution, one stands out: if you include successful run-chases of 295 or more, England now have three of the fastest five ever – and all took place in the last few weeks. They are rewriting history on the hoof.
Yet there is more to 'Bazball' than throwing the bat and chancing your arm – despite Ben Stokes's dismissals against New Zealand at Headingley and against India at Edgbaston. England, it seems, are smart enough to recognise that.
When they suffered a mini-collapse on the fourth evening of this game, turning 107 without loss into 109 for three, the facile response would have been to thrash their way out of trouble. With Jasprit Bumrah bowling like a dream and Virat Kohli maniacally conducting the crowd, it could have ended in disaster.
Brendon McCullum has helped revolutionise the team, with 'Bazball' enthralling the masses
Instead, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow decided to defuse things, as Root explained after England's seven-wicket win.
'They were all over us for a little bit and they were letting us know about it,' he said. 'It was about trying to
