’Not Bazball’: New Zealand’s Southee to stick with balanced approach against Pakistan
High-risk high-reward style proved to be entertaining and successful but will be dropped
New Zealand’s new Test captain Tim Southee shot down any hopes of adopting former skipper Brendon McCullum’s aggressive “Bazball” style, saying his team will stick to the balanced approach that has paid off for them.
Southee took over the Test captaincy after Kane Williamson ended his six-year tenure on Thursday, ahead of their two-Test series in Pakistan starting on Dec. 26.
The 34-year-old bowler previously played under McCullum, who as England’s head coach employed a high-risk high-reward style that has proved to be entertaining and successful.
“Not Bazball,” Southee said when asked about which style his team would use.
Some success
“I think you look at the players you’ve got and you try to make what you’ve got work. England seem to be doing that with the style they’re playing, but we’ve had some success in Test cricket doing it our way.
“The way that our Test game has gone the last 10 years, it’s just trying to continue that and trying to stay with the times.” New Zealand’s third highest wicket-taker in Tests, Southee stood in as captain for 22 Twenty20 internationals between 2017-21.
Head coach Gary Stead described him as a “quality leader with a good cricket brain”.
“We’ve seen his captaincy skills on display with the T20 side and I’m sure he’ll continue to bring an aggressive style while still maintaining the core fundamentals,” he said.