The Bazball era in England ultimately had a somewhat bitter ending with Ben Stokes’ retirement announcement and the England Cricket Board sacking Brendon McCullum a few days after. New Zealand ace seamer Matt Henry, who faced the England side in the Bazball era, lauded the approach and said it challenged him.

“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,” Henry said to Wisden.

“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,” he added.

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“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?’

Henry acknowledged that the approach different kind of question.

“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?” Henry said.

“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,” he added.