Australia’s Test spinner Nathan Lyon opined on England’s new way of playing Test cricket termed as “Bazball” saying it is nothing more than a
"load of s*** for him".
Lyon featured in the Ashes 2023 in two matches, which they won, but he was then ruled out due to an injury. Talking about Bazball, the off-spinner stated that he has won two matches against that approach, so he is happy.
“Well I’m 2-0 against Bazball so I’m pretty happy about it,” Lyon said in an interview on the Australian TV Show, "The Front Bar".
“To me, it’s a load of s*** if you ask me. It’s a brand of cricket that the English want to keep going, now it’s in the dictionary which is pretty remarkable.”
It must be noted that earlier this month, Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne also called Bazball “garbage” when he was asked if he was surprised by the new addition to the dictionary.
“Oh man, that’s garbage. I don’t know what that is. Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about," he said in an interview with cricket.com.au.
'Bazball' was coined in 2022 by Andrew Miller, the UK Editor of ESPNcricinfo, shortly after Brendon McCullum's appointment as the head coach of the England Test team.
Since his appointment, England have won 13 out of 18 Test matches, marking a dramatic turnaround from their previous dismal run, during which they only managed to win one out of their last 17 Test matches. This term has also made its way into other sports and various fields, including politics.
Despite its popularity, McCullum himself has said that he doesn’t like the word, saying last year: “I don’t really like that silly term that people are throwing out there, because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers they put pressure on.”
HarperCollins named AI the word of the year, ahead of Bazball, de-influencing, nepo baby, ultra-processed, canon event, debanking, greedflation, semaglutide and ulez.
- Nathan Lyon