Duncan doesn't do Bazball

At least, not for the Ashes

    My friend Duncan was an above-average cricketer in his early years at school, always in the 1^st XI without quite being the superstar until his final year when all of his dedication and hard work started paying off.

    An efficient opening batsman, relied upon for regular 30s and 40s, he was suddenly stronger and bolder. I still remember the moment he square cut a four to reach his first century as if it was four weeks ago rather than almost 40 years.

    After school Duncan continued to play as regularly as he could, for local club sides and the school Old Boys. He loved the game too much to give it up in the real world so, after a two-year transition at college where he was mostly in no condition for recreational cricket, he played most weekends for the next two decades while working his backside off managing various branches of a big-name mobile phone supplier.

    I had long ago recognised that my love of the game was different to Duncan’s and required a seat on the other side of the boundary in order to be requited. We remain close mates to this day and have enjoyed a number of memorable catch-ups, especially during England-South Africa series.

    Duncan has spent a significant amount of time and money following England as a touring fan and has been to Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and, of course, Australia to watch them play. I’ve been fortunate enough to tour every cricket playing region, mostly with the Proteas but England, too, in the last half dozen years.

    My mate had a few tentative reservations about the approach of the ‘New England’ team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum but, like everyone else, was quickly convinced by the extraordinary turn around in results which saw them win 11 out of 13 Tests immediately before the start of the Ashes having won just one out of 17 before that. “I just hope they don’t treat the Ashes like this,” he said darkly a couple of weeks ago.

    Duncan and six mates from London managed to buy tickets for the first three days of the Edgbaston Test and eased the pain of their over-priced B&B on the Hagley Road with several pints of over-priced lager, a routine which, by all accounts, went largely undisturbed except by sleep in Birmingham. He watched the last two days from home. And then messaged me after the game:

    “Stokes keeps saying 'we're not a results driven team’ and ‘we want it to be exciting',” the message began. I had a strong inkling what was to follow.

    “But I’m quite a results driven fan, especially against the Aussies. If we're 3-nil down after 3 Tests do we congratulate ourselves that it's been really exciting??? I don’t remember 2005 being boring - just two evenly balanced teams who would do virtually anything to win. Hammer and tongs. That's when sport becomes incredible,” wrote the mild-mannered Duncan, building towards an outburst, I suspected.

    “I would have found Root scoring a second ton very exciting rather than dancing down the wicket to Lyon [to be stumped for the first time in his Test career]. Same with Moeen, if he'd ground out a 50 it would have been gold dust!” Just when I thought it was over, there was another ‘ping’ with the dreaded four words. “What do you think???”

    My first thought is that the Stokes/McCullum ‘way’ cannot be compromised. You can’t have Joe Root’s reverse ramp without the possibility of him getting out. You can’t have Stokes’ funky fields and brilliant, early use of Harry Brook’s filthy medium pace without his whacky, bold declaration. Stuart Broad’s ‘Night Hawk’ comes with Moeen having the freedom to have a slog at an ‘inopportune’ moment.

    All three of the astonishing Test victories in Pakistan could have backfired, such was the level of ‘risk’ with which they were played. The price to pay for all the wins is the occasional defeat, of which two have been nail-bitingly close and memorable. It seems to me that ‘Bazball’ is not so much a way of playing Test cricket as a state of mind.

    Before the start of the final day’s play former England captain, Sir Andrew Strauss, commended Stokes not just on his record as captain but for “changing Test cricket forever, and in a good way.”

    England and Australia will always have the Ashes but it is still entirely conceivable that it might be diminished in years to come, reduced to a three-match series, perhaps, or played every three or four years rather than biennially. But if they continue to be this good, played in this manner, not only will they continue to attract full houses and a global electronic audience but Test cricket is more likely to survive everywhere else.

Duncan doesn’t have any images on the internet. I don’t think he minds that. So this is what Google gave me.

    The final word to an unconvinced Duncan: “We’ll never get both of bloody Smith and Labuschagne out cheaply in both innings again…”. Probably not, my friend, but it won’t be for a lack of trying and imagination.