Updated 26 October 2026: the Bazball era is over. Brendon McCullum was sacked as England’s Test coach on 12 July 2026, two weeks after Ben Stokes retired, and he now coaches only the white-ball sides. Stephen Fleming has taken over the Test team with Joe Root as captain. The figures below cover McCullum’s 49 Tests in charge, from 2 June 2022 to 29 June 2026.
Bazball is the name given to England’s attacking approach to Test cricket under head coach Brendon McCullum, who was in charge of the Test side from May 2022 to July 2026. It meant batting at a tempo normally seen in white-ball cricket, declaring and chasing aggressively, and treating a draw as a failed result rather than a safe one.
One number carries the whole idea. In McCullum’s 49 Tests, England scored at 4.44 runs per over. In the five years before, they scored at 3.15. No other Test nation in that period came close. Source: ESPNcricinfo.
The record is more mixed. England won 27 of those 49 Tests, but they were beaten 4-1 in the 2025-26 Ashes and 2-1 at home by New Zealand in June 2026, and their scoring rate fell in every year after 2023. This page covers what Bazball was, where it came from, what the record says and how it ended.
What is Bazball in cricket?
Bazball is an aggressive, risk-accepting approach to Test batting. Where the traditional method is to build an innings slowly and protect wickets, Bazball asks batters to keep the scoreboard moving and put the pressure back on the bowling side, even in situations where caution is the orthodox choice.
The name comes from McCullum’s nickname, Baz, and was coined by ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Miller during the 2022 English summer. McCullum himself never much liked the label, but it stuck immediately because it described something that was genuinely new.
In practice it showed up in four ways:
- Scoring rate. England batted at limited-overs tempo. 4.44 an over across four years is the clearest signal.
- Chasing. Fourth-innings targets that would once have been played out for a draw were chased down instead.
- Declarations. England declared earlier than convention suggests, buying overs to bowl the opposition out twice.
- Draws. Only two of England’s 49 Tests under McCullum were drawn. In the five years before him, 11 of 65 were.
The number that defines Bazball: run rate
Runs per over for every side that played at least 15 Tests between 2 June 2022 and 30 June 2026, the span of McCullum’s time in charge.
| Team | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | Drawn | Bat ave | Runs per over |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 2022-2026 | 49 | 27 | 20 | 2 | 34.51 | 4.44 |
| Australia | 2022-2026 | 40 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 33.01 | 3.66 |
| New Zealand | 2022-2026 | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 34.29 | 3.62 |
| India | 2022-2026 | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 33.69 | 3.56 |
| Sri Lanka | 2022-2026 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 33.26 | 3.55 |
| Bangladesh | 2022-2026 | 27 | 11 | 15 | 1 | 27.84 | 3.45 |
| South Africa | 2022-2025 | 27 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 29.34 | 3.45 |
| Pakistan | 2022-2026 | 25 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 29.70 | 3.39 |
| Zimbabwe | 2023-2026 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 24.08 | 3.25 |
| West Indies | 2022-2026 | 30 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 23.35 | 3.09 |
England were 0.78 runs an over clear of the next team. Over a 90-over day that is roughly 70 extra runs, which is the practical reason Bazball created results: it bought the time needed to bowl a side out twice.
Note what the same table says about winning, though. Australia won as many Tests as England in the period, 27, from 9 fewer matches (27 from 40 against England’s 27 from 49), while scoring 0.78 an over slower. Bazball was the fastest approach in Test cricket; it was not, on this evidence, the most successful one.
Where Bazball came from: England before and after
The context people forget is how bad things were. In their 17 Tests before McCullum arrived, England won one, lost 11 and drew five. The change was immediate and it is visible in every column.
| Period | Mat | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | Bat ave | Runs per over |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2017 – Jun 2022 (before) | 65 | 27 | 27 | 11 | 41.54 | 28.99 | 3.15 |
| Jun 2022 – Jun 2026 (McCullum) | 49 | 27 | 20 | 2 | 55.10 | 34.51 | 4.44 |
The first four Tests, which is where the name was made
McCullum’s first assignment was New Zealand, then the reigning World Test Championship holders. England won 3-0, and won all three batting second: by five wickets at Lord’s, five wickets at Nottingham and seven wickets at Leeds, chasing 277, 299 and 296. At Nottingham they reached 299 in 50 overs after Jonny Bairstow’s 136.
They then chased 378 against India at Birmingham in July 2022, winning by seven wickets. Four Tests in, the approach had a name.
Bazball’s biggest innings
Two innings show what the tempo looks like at full stretch, and both came against Pakistan away from home:
- 657 at 6.50 an over, Rawalpindi, December 2022. England scored at better than a run a ball across a completed Test innings and still won the match, by 74 runs, on a pitch that offered the bowlers almost nothing.
- 823 for 7 declared at 5.48 an over, Multan, October 2024. England’s highest total since 1938, made in 150 overs, and they won by an innings and 47 runs.
Did Bazball work? The year-by-year record
England’s Test record and scoring rate for each year under McCullum. The 2022 row starts from his first match on 2 June and the 2026 row ends with his last, at Trent Bridge on 25 June.
| Year | Mat | Won | Lost | Drawn | Bat ave | Runs per over |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 (from June) | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 38.57 | 4.77 |
| 2023 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 39.72 | 4.87 |
| 2024 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 32.12 | 4.38 |
| 2025 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 34.81 | 4.19 |
| 2026 (to June) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26.97 | 3.83 |
Two trends run through it. The first is that the scoring rate fell every year after 2023, from 4.87 to 3.83 in 2026, the only year below 4. The second is that the winning levelled off: nine wins from the first ten Tests, then 18 from the next 39.
The hardest evidence against the approach was away from home. England lost 4-1 in India in early 2024 and 4-1 in the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia, where their only win came at Melbourne. Ben Stokes never won a series in either country as captain.
How the Bazball era ended
After the 2025-26 Ashes the ECB ran a review and, in March 2026, kept McCullum as head coach across all formats, with Stokes as Test captain and Rob Key as managing director. Key’s framing was that Bazball needed to evolve, particularly against strong opposition away from home.
The summer undid that. England won the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, then lost by 253 runs at The Oval and by 160 runs at Trent Bridge to lose the series 2-1, their first home defeat in a series of three or more Tests for 14 years. Stokes, suspended for the Oval Test after a nightclub incident, retired from international cricket after Trent Bridge. England had lost seven of McCullum’s last nine Tests.
On 12 July 2026 the ECB sacked McCullum as Test coach. He stays in charge of England’s ODI and T20I sides. The BBC called his exit a definitive end to the Bazball era.
What comes after Bazball
The ECB named Marcus Trescothick interim head coach for the next series, a 3-0 home win over Pakistan in August and September 2026: by an innings and 103 runs at Leeds, by 194 runs at Lord’s and by eight wickets at Birmingham. Those three Tests are not counted in McCullum’s figures above.
On 30 July the ECB appointed Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, as England’s Test head coach, with Joe Root back as captain. Fleming starts with the winter tour to South Africa. He said he would look to bed in the gains made under McCullum and Stokes.
Bazball: quick answers
What does Bazball mean? It is the aggressive approach England played in Test cricket under Brendon McCullum from 2022 to 2026: fast scoring, attacking declarations, and chasing targets rather than playing for draws.
Why is it called Bazball? After McCullum’s nickname, Baz. The term was coined by ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Miller in 2022.
Who invented Bazball? Brendon McCullum, appointed England Test coach in May 2022, with captain Ben Stokes. The playing style draws on McCullum’s own attacking batting for New Zealand.
What was England’s record under Bazball? 27 wins, 20 defeats and two draws from 49 Tests under McCullum, a win rate of 55.10 per cent.
How fast did England score under Bazball? 4.44 runs per over, against 3.15 in the five years before McCullum. No other side with 15 or more Tests in the period topped 3.66.
Was Bazball successful? At home and against most opposition, yes. Away against the strongest sides it was not: England lost 4-1 in India in 2024 and 4-1 in the 2025-26 Ashes.
Is Bazball over? Yes, at Test level. McCullum was sacked as Test coach on 12 July 2026 and Stokes retired in June. Stephen Fleming now coaches the Test side with Joe Root as captain.
Is Brendon McCullum still England coach? Only of the white-ball teams. He lost the Test job in July 2026 but remains head coach of England’s ODI and T20I sides.
See also our guides to the rules of Test cricket, how many overs are bowled in a Test and the World Test Championship, plus the story of the Ashes urn.
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Author: William Paul
Featured photo: AFP / ADRIAN DENNIS