New Zealand defeated England 1-2 earlier in the summer, which ultimately led to Brendon McCullum's sacking as the Test head coach and Ben Stokes's retirement, thus ending the Bazball era.
Matt Henry, speaking on Wisden’s The Scoop, lauded England’s aggressive approach to Test cricket when McCullum was their head coach. “Honestly, I thought they did some great things,” he said.
“They put you under pressure and moved the game forward a lot, things that I suppose everyone was trying to do. They did it on quite a big scale, which obviously drew a lot of criticism as well. I suppose that's the difference, the media and the pressure over here is very different to what we have at home.”
“But I think what they actually achieved in the game, in terms of putting the game forward, was really good,” he continued. “Obviously, on the other side of it, there were moments where you could expose it. And that's what happened.”
The Bazball approach yielded more results; they won 27 out of 49 Test matches while drawing only two, and losing 20. Their results against Australia and India, however, didn’t make for a great reading. Only seven of the 27 wins came against Australia and India, while they went down in 12 matches against the two teams, with two draws.
There was so much in Bazball that challenged you: Matt Henry
During this period, New Zealand defeated England in four of 11 Tests, with two of those wins coming earlier this summer. Henry played a crucial role in the come-from-behind series win in England, picking up 12 wickets in four innings at an average of 13.33. He also climbed to the top of the Test bowling rankings after the second match.
“But I think you're going into a game to try to win a game of cricket, and each team will try to do it the best way they see fit,” Henry added. “For us, we knew, 'Right, they're going to take it in this direction. How do we bring it back to our cricket?'
“It asked different questions of our own team, and that was where the focus and energy had to make you stronger about your own game, because they were always trying to pull you away from that. That was always a challenge when you're running in with a new ball and you've got a guy charging you, trying to whack you over your head, which is not what you're after, is it?
“You're wanting someone who's caught in the crease and moving, and all of a sudden they're asking you, 'Hey, lose a catcher.' Then they go back to normal and you nick it, and you've got no catcher there anymore. So there was so much in it that challenged you."
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