England legend Ian Bell is a big fan of ‘Bazball’ but believes the national side must learn when to temporarily turn off all-out-attack mode to avoid unnecessary collapses.
Playing an attacking brand of cricket with a fearless mentality has been key to skipper Ben Stokes’ and coach Brendon McCullum’s Test success. But England have come unstuck in recent times with opposition teams having benefited from a string of rash dismissals.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan slammed England’s batsman after they capitulated to 122 all out chasing 557 for victory in the recent series defeat to India. “I am afraid Bazball has been exposed,” blasted Vaughan.
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England suffered a humbling 4-1 loss to India on their 2024 tour, losing the last Test inside three days in a poor finish. Dubbed the ‘Humbling in the Himalayas’, England were on the rocks.
But prior to arriving in India, Stokes and his terrific team had won 13 out of 19 Tests – and most importantly in an entertaining style to boot. “I think there’s a balance to be had,” said five-time Ashes winner Bell.
“What I love about what Brendon and Ben have done is get the best out of a really talented bunch of young players. If you look at those players the year before, well they were trying to play in a certain way. But I think it’s to be admired, the changes that they’ve made.
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“I coach myself, so to see a coach and captain get the best out of a group is great. For me now, to go to the next level, it’s just key moments.”
Rob Key declared it was “time for us all to buckle up and get ready for the ride” when he took over as England’s managing director in April 2022. Never a truer word was spoken, especially with the debate about England’s batters gifting teams their wickets, with careless shot-selection often called into question by their critics.
“England had a really great chance of winning in India as well; they pushed India really hard even though the scoreline probably didn’t reflect that,” added Bell. “But it’s just moments in sport, like when you’re playing an Ashes series, and sometimes you have to be able to rein back at times.
“Sometimes it’s about getting the job done for an hour and then pushing on with the aggressive, exciting stuff as well. But there’s no doubt that the Test side – and the way the one-day side play as well – have captured the next generation of players who are going to play the exciting style of cricket we are going to play in the future.
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“It’s been great to see and, through county cricket, there’s a lot of talent coming through. We’ve already seen a lot of runs this year, it’s great knowing there’s that next generation of exciting talent coming through the wings. Being a dad myself, I’ve got an 11-year-old son who loves playing reverse ramps and ramps – I’m trying to make him play a forward defensive and he has no interest.”
Bell has no doubts England have enough talent in the batting department, especially young stars like Harry Brook having captured the imagination. But the former Warwickshire batter, who revealed he has aspirations of coaching England, believes the Test side would benefit from having a settled spinner.
Bell enjoyed much success in the same side with off-spinner Graeme Swann. “We were very lucky in the Test side that I got into. When we got to number one in the world Graeme Swann played a massive part in that,” said Bell.
“It’s important to have a settled spinner. If you want to win away from home you’ve got to have seamers who are adaptable and who can play in all conditions, but spinners are massively important.
“Graeme was a big difference for us winning away from home. That will be the next step for this England team. I enjoyed watching our young spinners [Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley] in India this year, in conditions which are favourable for spin.
“But we need a few of the young guys to step up. We’ve got a couple of good ones who can do that, they could play a massive part in us winning in Australia in two years’ time as well.”