'Bazball' enters the Collins English dictionary as one of the words of the year

01 November 2023 , 05:15

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'Bazball' enters the Collins English dictionary as one of the words of the year

Bazball has officially joined the English language as one of 10 new words in the Collins Dictionary for 2023.

In true modern language style the term, first coined by the UK editor of ESPN Cricinfo Andrew Miller in a podcast, became the catch all term for the way that England’s Test team started to function in 2022 under the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

McCullum is not someone who likes to take the focus away from the players and often says that the ultra attacking style used by England is mainly down to Stokes as the captain, but Benball doesn’t quite work.

It is the nickname of McCullum ‘Baz’ which has stuck, coming from his middle name ‘Barrie’ and then the addition of ‘ball’ which is the sporting equivalent of any high profile drama or investigation that adds the word ‘gate’ to a phrase.

That was started by ‘Moneyball’ author Michael Lewis who wrote about the value for money style of management employed by Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics in Baseball. Ironically, until one alters the autocorrect on their computer, ‘Bazball’ is replaced by the word baseball which is rather fitting as it often involves England batters sending the ball soaring into the stands like a home run.

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McCullum will tell you there is more to it than that though, usually after a reminder that he doesn’t really like the term. “I don’t really like that silly term that people are throwing out there,” he said. “Because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into it.”

Kiwi coach 'Baz' McCullum has added more than just cricket victories to his time in charge of England

It is though here to stay with an entry in the dictionary that reads: “Bazball [ˈbæzbɔːl] noun a style of test cricket in which the batting side plays in a highly aggressive manner. Word origin: C21: after Brendan McCullum, known as Baz (born 1981), New Zealand cricketer and coach.”

McCullum might add that it is a philosophy designed to remove any fear of failure from a player’s mind and of course it is applicable to bowlers as well as batters who are only interested in hunting wickets rather than how many runs they concede.

With prescient timing for the Christmas market, cricket journalists Nick Hoult of the Telegraph and Wisden editor Lawrence Booth have also just released a book covering the recent form of the England Test team entitled - “Bazball”.

The word joins nine others as new entries with ‘AI’ the word of the year, along with canon event, greedflation, debanking, deinfluencing, nepo baby, ultra-processed, semaglutide, and ULEZ.

Dean Wilson