"All of a sudden they decide to go on the attack and create a new name" - Curtly Ambrose rubbishes England's 'Bazball' approach ahead of WI Tests
Former West Indian pacer Curtly Ambrose dismissed England's 'Bazball' hype as just a fancy name for an approach long adopted by dominant teams of the past. His remarks came ahead of the West Indies tour of England for three Tests, starting July 10.
Ironically, the Bazball approach of attacking cricket took shape when Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach after England's 0-1 defeat in the West Indies in early 2022. The method reaped incredible rewards with England winning 11 of its next 13 Tests.
However, things have gone downhill since, and they could only salvage a 2-2 draw in the home Ashes followed by a 1-4 setback in India.
Speaking ahead of the England-West Indies Test series as quoted by The Guardian, Ambrose slammed all the hype surrounding Bazball.
"Bazball is a fancy name but I never thought about it for a second. We know the English [in the past] tended to play cricket a little bit differently; maybe a bit slower. All of a sudden they decide to go on the attack and create a new name. I don’t want to hear about it," said Ambrose.
He added:
"This Bazball thing, I never gave it much thought to be honest. West Indies teams back in the days, Australian teams back in the day, they always had aggressive players. So what England are going about – going on the attack and all that stuff – is nothing new."
Thanks to their recent string of poor results, England are languishing at the bottom of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) table with just three wins in 10 Tests.
"My only concern is you have to get runs on the board" - Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose believed the West Indies could emerge victorious in the three-match Test series in England if they scored sufficient runs in their batting innings.
The two teams last met in England in 2020 with the hosts winning a close series 2-1.
"Their ( West Indies) chances are good. My only concern is you have to get runs on the board. I believe if we score heavily, we have the firepower to bowl England out twice. We have to put runs on the board, and that has been the problem over the years. The bowlers have to do too much, and have to defend small totals," said Ambrose.
The opening Test at Lord's will also be legendary pacer James Anderson's farewell game.
As for the West Indies, they are currently sixth on the WTC table with a lone win in four Tests.