Bazball : The inside story of a Test cricket revolution

Author: Hoult, Nick

Lifestyle, sport & leisure

Published on 26 October 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 352 pages
163 x 241 x 35 | 578g

WATERSTONES' BEST BOOKS OF 2023: SPORTGripping Roger Alton, Sunday TimesThe inside story of how England transformed the way Test cricket is played.

After one win in 17 by the start of the summer of 2022, England needed something new. For 145 years, Test cricket was played mainly in one way: batters laid a foundation before daring to attack and, even then, only if circumstances were favourable. Bowlers tried to bowl maidens, calculating that they would eventually force an error. But the old ways werent working.

Then came Bazball, driven by new head coach in Brendon (Baz) McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. What followed was one of the most thrilling revolutions in any sport, as a rudderless and ridiculed England Test team became almost overnight crickets most talked-about phenomenon. They embarked on a brand of Test cricket that breathed life into an ailing format, breaking records as they went on to win 11 out 13 Tests before taking on world champions Australia in a dramatic Ashes contest that ended 22.

Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult, two of the games most respected writers, had a ringside seat for all the action. Their book will reveal how Bazball swept the England dressing room and transformed the teams fortunes. Told via a mixture of interviews with the protagonists and insights gathered by the authors during their own close-up reporting, Bazball is an unmissable read. As Rob Key said after he appointed McCullum: Buckle up and get ready for the ride.