Win or lose, the 'Bazball' regime is designed to thrill and that can be a double-edged sword sometimes. Like Ben Stokes's side found out against India at The Oval on Monday (August 4). On the previous day, they were sitting pretty at 300/3 in pursuit of the stiff target of 374. However, that's when Harry Brook decided to play an audacious stroke to gift his wicket away against the run of play. The rest, as they say, is history. You could argue that it is Brook's style of play and that it was this kind of counterattack which got England back into the game in the first place during the first half of the day.
However, there is a massive difference between playing that shot at a time when the backs are against the wall and when the team is cruising towards victory. The first is a nothing-to-lose kind of situation to some extent while the latter can at times give the opposition a sniff, more so on a tricky pitch in a high-intensity series like this. Brook's dismissal went the second route and India never looked back after that to stage a famous win. The reckless stroke of rookie Jacob Bethell who perished soon after also painted a sorry picture but he could have the buffer of being inexperienced at this level.
Coming to the result, England's six-run defeat was their narrowest Test defeat at home in 123 years and second closest loss of all time in their own den. The only narrower defeat came in 192 against Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester. Meanwhile, England's narrowest defeat in their Test history has also come under the Stokes-McCullum regime - the one-run heartbreak against New Zealand at Wellington in 2023. From 1902 to 2022, for a period of 120 years, England didn't have such close defeats. In fact, they came on the right side of the Edgbaston thriller against Australia in 2005, although they did lose an almost replica of a game in 2023, except that they were bowling last in that match.
In terms of runs, two of England's narrowest defeats of all-time have come in the last three years and this only helps to improve the myth around the BazBall philosophy. It may still be an enigma and might not be endearing to the purists but England will continue to play this way. At least till Stokes and McCullum are at the helm of things. At the same time, they would also want to reflect on the mistakes they made in this series, more so with the Ashes series Down Under not all that far away. Playing entertaining cricket is one thing but gaining consistency in results is another matter altogether.
England's track record with the BazBall philosophy has worked against most teams but against Australia and India, they are yet to win a series. It means that the tactics need minor tweaks, especially during crunch moments, and this adaptability is something McCullum has longed for as well. At times, England have shown signs of it, like they did in the first innings of the Lord's Test this series. The frequency, however, needs to be more if England want to be a ruthless Test side in all conditions.
