“To me it’s a load of s*** if you ask me" - Nathan Lyon gives his no-nonsense verdict on Bazball
Veteran Australia spinner Nathan Lyon is still unconvinced of England's brute and aggressive red-ball approach, fondly coined as Bazball, as an ode to the team's head coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum. The style of play was the talk of the town when England faced defending World Test Champions Australia in the 2023 Ashes.
The five-match series ended up being a thrilling 2-2 draw, with England executing a comeback after being 0-2 down following the second Test at Lord's.
Lyon's injury in the second Test was arguably a turning point in the series. The off-spinner was ruled out due to a calf injury, and Australia had to resort to using rookie spinner Todd Murphy, who could not bring the impact like the senior candidate. As a result, Lyon was not part of the defeats Australia faced in Headingley and the Oval that prevented them from winning their first Test series in England since 2001.
The English batters did not shy away from their aggressive style despite the magnitude of the series, but could not impose themselves on Lyon. The off-spinner ended up with eight wickets in Australia's win at Edgbaston and ended the series with an economy rate of four.
“Well I’m 2-0 against Bazball so I’m pretty happy about it. To me it’s a load of s*** if you ask me. It’s a brand of cricket that the English want to keep going, now it’s in the dictionary which is pretty remarkable," said Lyon on Australian TV show, The Front Bar
Australia were arguably on the ropes in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, after England amassed 592 runs in their first innings. The Aussies were stuttering at 214-5 in the second innings, trailing by 61 runs, when rain intervened and ended the contest.
"I think there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors with BazBall" - Nathan Lyon
England were arguably the architects of their own downfall, with their suicidal early declaration on Day 1 itself, coupled with their abysmal batting in the second innings at Lord's.
Nathan Lyon brought up David Warner as an example when it came to aggressive batting and elaborated on the issue with the concept of Bazball.
"I look at the Australian cricket team and the batters we’ve had, David Warner for example… I’ve seen him score hundreds in a session... and that’s off playing an attacking brand of cricket," he said.
"I think there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors with BazBall, if I’m being honest with you, and I feel like if you’re going to play an aggressive brand of cricket anyway, it’s about being able to go up and down in gears and understanding the moments in the game,” Lyon added.
Lyon recovered from his injury to feature in the domestic season for the New South Wales. He even offered to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India following Ashton Agar's injury, despite his last ODI appearance coming in 2019.