to play in, we just backed ourselves and played without fear. I think T20, if it’s brought anything to cricket is players, especially batsman, have to go out there and play without fear and that’s moved up through ODIs to Test cricket and they’re starting to play that way. To me, that’s the way everyone should play cricket. When you’ve got a team that goes out there and backs themselves, they play without fear and it’s amazing what you can achieve. With Brendon McCullum coming in, I think he’s definitely bought that attitude.” Mindset Ali Martin in The Guardian described the Bazball philosophy as "play positive red-ball cricket; to soak up pressure when required but also be brave enough to put it back on opponents at the earliest opportunity; to make taking wickets the sole aim in the field; and to strive chiefly for victory across the five days without considering the draw". Cricket writer Chris Stocks identified seven principles of Bazball that could be promoted by a cricket coach in a team environment at the highest level of the game. They are: A less reflective environment No negative chat A win-at-all-costs mentality No fear of failure Praise – even for the little things Simplicity of message Embracing mental freedom and fun Stocks quoted veteran pace bowler Stuart Broad discussing the mental side of McCullum's approach when he said: "There's no doubt Baz has had an impact already. It's a very positive language in the changing room. It's very forward thinking. All about how to move this game forward". Impact on Test matches 2022: Run chases The change in style of play produced immediate results in the summer of 2022. The England Test match side were playing a three match series against New Zealand and a one-off Test to conclude a previous series postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic against India. The previous summer, India and New Zealand had competed in the 2021 ICC World Test Championship Final. However, England in the summer of 2022 won all four matches chasing a total in the fourth innings, three against New Zealand and one against India, with those fourth innings chases being 277, 299, 296 and 378 runs. They became the first side in Test history to chase three scores of 250-plus in back-to-back games against New Zealand, and the first England side to ever win four consecutive Test matches batting last. Stokes