Aside from the swashbuckling template of Test cricket that Brendon Mccullum has brought to the Three Lions fold, his highly spoken about tenure at the helm of the England Test team has also led to the coining of new cricket terms. The cricket fraternity is all to familiar with Bazzball now, but have you heard of "Brumbella"?
Setting up the trap
Originally employed to denote a substantial shield for safeguarding the playing surface, the term has now been employed to characterise the extraordinary domain in which Stokes and Ollie Robinson operated, eventually breaking Usman Khawaja's resilient 321-ball innings.
Despite the unconventional nature of the field, where the England captain had a silly mid-on, silly mid-off, square leg backward square leg and a leg side gully all unconventionally crowding the batsman, creating a unique semi-circle against a set Usman Khawaja, the uncharacteristic nature of the field eventually bore fruit.
Khawaja's departure led to a subsequent batting collapse, allowing England to accumulate a slender seven-run advantage. However, England's progress was hampered by intermittent rain showers, resulting in them finishing the day at 28 for 2, holding a lead of 35 runs.
The primary objective of the field setup appeared to be a test of Khawaja's composure and focus. It gauged his ability to remain unruffled and undistracted amidst the unconventional arrangement, which eventually got the better of him.
Mindgames or tactical genius?
Whether the field arrangement was a display of genuine strategic acumen or not, the fact remains that a crucial wicket was successfully secured. Australia could only add a meagre 14 runs to their total, a far cry from the impression they gave earlier of potentially establishing a substantial lead.
Nonetheless, the uncharacteristic fielding display was the talk of the day and deserved its due recognition. Bazball has certainly given the pundits and analysts more cricket prose to chat about. It has led to innovation and mind games. Since 2015, it's been the England limited overs side that has impressed with their approach to the game. The Test team is now doing that in the purest form of the game, not just from a batting approach but also from what some may deem outrageous and ridiculous gimmicks and pure mind games. So long as it works!!!
