Stuart Broad explains why other teams will emulate England's 'Bazball' success

12 February 2023 , 12:23

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Veteran England bowler Stuart Broad (Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Stuart Broad believes other countries will try and emulate the new positive and aggressive approach to Test cricket that has brought England great success under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

The approach, dubbed 'Bazball' after McCullum's nickname, has seen England win nine out of ten Tests since Stokes and McCullum took charge, with victories over the likes of New Zealand, India, South Africa and Pakistan. Those performances have helped captivate fans again after a previously disappointing run of form.

And Broad believes other sides will have watched England's success and look to follow suit, with white-ball cricket meaning most players "have so much expansion in their games now".

"There has been some attention on whether other teams will try to emulate our positive approach to Test cricket and, although it hasn't been evident yet, they will in time because players have so much expansion in their games now," Broad said in his column for the Daily Mail.

"Yet you must also play your own style. For example, I wouldn't expect Sir Alastair Cook to come in and hit 80 off 50.

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"He did all right scoring his 12,000 Test runs with his own method and he would still work in this team. But I could envisage certain players of the recent past that might be looking at us and thinking of what might have been.

England have enjoyed great success playing 'Bazball' under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

"Shane Watson coming in at six in a team like this? You’d be licking your lips. One of the reasons that I believe others will try to speed up, though, is that you can get results out of draws, particularly on flat pitches.

"We've already witnessed that fans allow you that extra bit of leeway to be aggressive because they know how enjoyable it is to watch and so, when we are 50 for eight, we are not mauled for a bad performance."

England are set to take on New Zealand later this month in a two Test series, before a one-off Test against Ireland in June ahead of the Ashes.

Matthew Cooper