Pakistan vs England: 2nd Test Day 4: Bazball faces a major test while the game is close

And it is easy to understand why. McCullum’s insistence that his team’s batters look to play positively and attack as often as possible has paid rich dividends for the England cricket team until this point. 

However, it is worth noting that such an approach will sometimes only work. Yes, it is good that England plays attacking cricket in the most extended format. 

It’s an approach many teams have used in the past – the West Indies teams of the 1970s and 1980s, for instance, and the Australian teams of the 1990s and early 2000s. 

Yet these teams were also good because they knew when that approach would not work and thus changed tack accordingly. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">😬😬😬 how’s everyone feeling? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ENGvPAK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ENGvPAK</a> <a href="https://t.co/oKllb9AB1T">pic.twitter.com/oKllb9AB1T</a></p>&mdash; Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexHartley93/status/1599727447322529792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That is something that England will need to be able to do in the long term if they are to be a successful side in the Test format. 

As of now, the critical facet of Bazball is for the batters to be as attacking as possible. But that is only the one, and only facet as things stand. 

And that can and will backfire on certain occasions – just as it did when England took on Pakistan in the second Test at Multan. 

Abrar Ahmed and Zahid Mahmood were in fine form as the spinners ran through England’s batting line-up due to their bid to try and be too attacking. 

In hindsight, England should have used a slightly more defensive approach, given they would have known about their struggles against leg spin. 

But it exposes the massive flaw around England’s strategy – they are too focused on going to hell for leather, even in conditions that are not possible. 

One facet they can improve on is picking and choosing when to attack rather than just batting in fifth gear at all times. 

That would help them navigate the trickier parts of a Test while still keeping wickets in hand – which then would serve them well in terms of attacking when the time is right. 

The other facet would be to teach an attacking mindset regarding their bowling. There are at least signs that they are looking to bring that attitude to their bowling too. 

Despite England being dismissed for 202, they were positive in their approach when bowling and were able to dismiss Pakistan for precisely that same score in the first innings. 

This helped them get a good head-start in the second innings and kept them alive in the Test match, to begin with. 

However, it is evident that Bazball, in its current form, while an excellent tactical mindset, would need some tweaking. 

Once that happens, it is safe to say England will be an even stronger side in Test cricket.