‘There is a bit more method to the madness’ – England’s batting coach Marcus Trescothick reflects on Bazball approach

England batting coach, Marcus Trescothick, revealed his thoughts on the Bazball attacking methods of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. He said that the main aim of this attacking method is to point pressure on bowlers. England recently defeated New Zealand by 267 runs in the pink ball Test, which was their 10th win in 11 Tests.

“There is a bit more method to the madness. It’s not just about you know, 'Let’s go gung-ho and just be ultra-aggressive'. The mantra is (to) try and point pressure on bowlers and try and find opportunities that we can move the game forward,” Trescothick told SENZ radio.

The batting coach said that the Bazball was started with head coach McCullum and it has also changed the playing style. He also mentioned that Ben Stokes always wanted to make his side play from a different angle and chimes in with the different perspectives of the head coach.

'Brendon looking to evolve the approach of the team' - Marcus Trescothick on McCullum's impact on the team

“It kind of started with Brendon coming in and sort of looking to evolve the approach of the team. And then you’ve got the skipper in Ben Stokes also looking to try and do things slightly differently to give the team a different angle and a different way of playing the game,” Trescothick said.

“I think encouraging them to be more aggressive and to be a bit more free, which then allows us as coaches to then follow through with that ethos and keep pushing the guys towards the danger if you like and keep pushing them to try and find different approaches, find a different way of playing this game," he added.

The England team was not going through a good time before McCullum took over the coaching role. In 2021, England lost nine Test, which was the most of any team in the history of Test cricket. The former New Zealand cricketer was appointed as the head coach in May 2022. After his appoinment, the team won 10 out of 11 Test matches. Trescothick was full of praise for McCullum stating that the 10 wins is pretty good for a team which had gone through a worst phase.

“We had a period of time beforehand where it didn’t go so well but we needed to move the game forward so it’s kind of breeding itself now. The guys have had success doing it and they’re finding and looking at opportunities where they can go out and be a bit more aggressive and the proof has been in the pudding. We’ve won 10 out of 11 games on the bounce and it’s like, this is pretty good at what we’re trying to do," he said.

“It’s great to see it filtering down from us up here at the top down the Lions and hopefully into county cricket as well. I feel like heading into the summer we’re in a position where we’ve got that. I think we’ve got a great crop of fast bowlers coming through England at the moment and it’s exciting," the former England opener concluded.