‘Bazball’ could be the most used term in world cricket over the last one month but the inspiration behind it, England Test team’s head coach Brendon McCullum, finds the incessant talk around the newly coined word ‘silly’.

‘Bazball’, which is derived from McCullum’s nickname ‘Baz’, has been associated with England’s drastic change in approach towards Test cricket since his arrival.

Senior Australia batter Steve Smith called England’s counter-attacking approach exciting but said he’s not sure about its sustainability, especially till the Ashes in England next summer. Reacting to Smith’s comments, former New Zealand captain McCullum acknowledged the Australian challenge in 2023.

“I saw those (bazball) flick up on one of the feeds somewhere,” McCullum told Adam Gilchrist on SEN WA Breakfast show.

“It’s quite right, it is going to be a big challenge when we take on Australia. It’s going to challenge our method and it’s going to challenge what we’re capable of achieving and that’s pretty exciting I reckon.

“Australia is a different kind of challenge because of the history of the Ashes,” McCullum said.

“That’s why I don’t really like that silly term because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers they put pressure on.”