The ECB has sacked Brendan McCullum, marking the official end of BazBall.
It's worth revisiting the start, because the appointment of McCullum was a response to something. It's a circle of life thing.
In We did a podcast with Mo Bobat...
He told a story about Sir Dave Brailsford doing a session at the ECB. It was about the role of style. Basically you want to be in the top right 'Brazil 1970' box. Bottom left is the sack (I showed this to Warren Gatland just before he got the boot at Wales, no pun intended. He very much saw the irony).
The other two are where the conversation is to be had.
In 2022, England beat New Zealand at Lords due to an astonishing innings from Jonny Bairstow. Peak Bazball. Mo Bobat sent me this message:
Another framework that I’ve often considered and used to discuss with Ed Smith when we considered selection strategy for our teams…
Winning takes care of everything etc.
But you have to be building, or appearing to build.
We'll take losing if it's moving forward.
See this piece from that time:
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