![Ben Stokes and Joe Root [Source: AFP, x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1785595942270_Ben_Stokes_Joe_Root.jpg?type=hq)
Ben Stokes and Joe Root [Source: AFP, x]
Joe Root has taken over England’s Test captaincy reigns from recently-retired Ben Stokes. The seasoned pro was elected as England captain over young Harry Brook by the ECB last month, shortly after Stokes shocked the cricketing world with his sudden retirement.
Set to commence his second spell as Test skipper with the upcoming home series against Pakistan, the legendary batter is planning to retain certain aspects of England’s no-holds-barred ‘BazBall’ approach.
Joe Root planning to retain BazBall, with few tweaks
While speaking with the ECB, Joe Root claimed that he is planning to continue Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s ‘BazBall’ approach for the England Test side. However, the Yorkshire legend also admitted that he is planning to tweak the approach to a certain extent.
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He said “It'll be trying to continue some of the good things we have done over that period (since 2022) and not finding ourselves back to where we were before Baz and Ben took over.”
Root added “Evolving and tweaking things to get us to where we want to be and really competing against the top nations consistently over a long period of time. The wrong thing to do would be to completely rip everything up that we've done over the last four years. There's so much good stuff that Ben and Brendon did and changed the way we look at the game and see the game.”
How has BazBall fared for England?
Back in mid-2022, newly-appointed captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum ushered in a brand new ‘BazBall’ approach for the England Test team. The approach sees the English team batting with greater intent, one which helped them pull off some astonishing run chases.
Under Ben Stokes as well as under the occasional leadership of vice-captain Ollie Pope, the Englishmen secured 27 Test victories in just 48 matches since the approach's introduction to the world. The legendary all-rounder himself was the captain in 24 of those wins from his 43 matches as regular captain.
Joe Root, meanwhile, endured one of the worst captaincy records in Test history with his conservative approach during his first stint as skipper. In his 65 matches as England captain, the national team suffered 27 defeats, which marks the joint-second highest number of Test losses for any captain.
Needless to say, Root’s decision of carrying on with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum-inspired ‘BazBall’ appears to be the correct decision for the England cricket team.
With players like Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Root himself finding much success under the result-oriented approach, England will hope that retaining the core principles of BazBall can help them challenge the world’s best teams more consistently in the years ahead.
Stephen Fleming yet to approve ‘BazBall’
While Joe Root has expressed his eagerness in sustaining the use of England’s revolutionary approach, national head coach Stephen Fleming is yet to approve the same.
It is worth noting that Fleming was recently appointed as England’s Test head coach as a replacement of fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum. While Fleming is a more conservative figure than McCullum, one can assume that the former New Zealand captain might have some differences over the approach with England’s returning skipper.
In any case, Joe Root will be expected to put his tweaked version of ‘BazBall’ to practical use in England’s upcoming home Test series against Pakistan.
Stephen Fleming, meanwhile, will be joining the England Test side later this year, as confirmed by the ECB a few days ago.
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