England in New Zealand: Harry Brook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad close to records as Bazball heads home | Cricket News

England has become quite regular in racking up records in Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Against India in July, he completed his successful chase of 378. In Pakistan in December, he became the first team to score 500 on the opening day of a Test match.

Now, all three players can claim some records in this week’s day-night test against New Zealand.

If Harry Brook reaches a hundred for the fourth Test in a row, he will match Ken Barrington for the most tons in consecutive games for England – Barrington has completed four in a row twice in the 1960s.

And if James Anderson and Stuart Broad take five wickets between them at Mount Maunganui, they will become the most prolific bowling partnership in Test cricket history.

Broad and Anderson have 997 wickets combined from the Tests they have played together, just four behind the record of 1,001 held by Glenn McGrath and the late Shane Warne for Australia.

Anderson and Broad – save for a few occasions, such as last March’s tour of the West Indies when both went down and in Pakistan two months ago when Broad was on paternity leave – have been permanent fixtures in the England team since being paired in New Zealand. in 2008. Brook is only four Tests into his career but looks as if he could have the same longevity.

The Yorkshireman can burst at his best – twice in Rawalpindi in December he looks on course to break England’s record 76-ball century Gilbert Jessop had smoked against Australia at The Oval in 1902 – but there is more to his game than that.

He takes up the length so quickly, especially against the spinners; has solid defensive technique to boot, plus Kevin Pietersen-esque authority at the crease.

Sky Sports’ Mark Butcher said Brook had a ‘touch of genius about people’ amid his three tons on the trot in Pakistan before Christmas. England team-mate Broad doesn’t think he’s seen a more talented player than Brook in his career. England captain Stokes feels that the 23-year-old can enjoy the all-format success that India’s Virat Kohli has achieved. A real compliment.

It seems inconceivable that Brook will not be in England’s Ashes XI come summer, even if Jonny Bairstow, who broke his leg on the golf course gave Brook a red-ball chance, right. Broad and Anderson will be there too, 15 months into their international careers which appear to be in jeopardy after they were left out of the Caribbean tour by acting director of cricket Sir Andrew Strauss.

It was a decision that frustrated the seamers at the time but one that, in hindsight, Broad believes has actually completed his English career, having saved him from bowling on a turn-friendly surface.

He and Anderson were quickly restored by Stokes for the summer at home and began to play in the ‘Bazball’ revolution that he hoped had been adopted by the national team earlier, which resulted in nine wins out of 10, and one Brook matched perfectly.

Bazball returns to where it was born

‘Bazball’ is not a word like English, but a philosophy we all know: take positive choices at all times.

Destructive but not daft. Aggressive but not cavalier. Clear, confident and clinical whether you are looking to smash a six, play forward defense, take a wicket or win the game.

It is a philosophy that comes from the English country now finds itself. A philosophy that had an impact on English cricket long before Baz, aka Brendon McCullum, became their Test coach.

When McCullum captained New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup, we saw how Bazball works. The buccaneering cricket played by the Black Caps led to the final.

The most devastating win on the road came against England in Wellington with Baz as the chief destroyer.

After England were robbed of 123 by Tim Southee by seven wickets, McCullum scored 77 off 25 balls as his team reached the target in 12.2 overs. England blew it and captain Eoin Morgan determined that his team would follow New Zealand’s lead.

Morgan’s thinking transformed England from chumps to champions in limited-overs cricket and was instrumental in shaping Stokes’ ideas about how Test teams should play. It started with Bazball and continued with Bazball. New Zealand can shoulder the burden now, as they did last summer when they were swept 3-0 in England.

Bazball’s next challenge is the pink ball, with England yet to play a day-night Test under Stokes and McCullum. We know his approach won’t change – he scored 465 in 69.2 overs during the warm-up – but will be hoping for a record in the Test twilight.

England is no longer a pink ball wizard. Since galloping to victory by an innings and 209 runs against the West Indies on the night of the first Test at Edgbaston in 2017 – 19 West Indies wickets fell on the third and final day – England have played five, lost five. Three times overseas Australia and once by New Zealand and India.

Their totals have included 112, 81 and 58. In the collapse of 58, against New Zealand in Auckland in 2018, they were 27-9 before Craig Overton’s unbeaten 33 reduced the embarrassment.

With a record like that, England could be forgiven for not wanting to play pink-ball Tests again. Seamer Ollie Robinson certainly won’t miss him, he said earlier this week: “I don’t think we should play this pink-ball game. It’s a bit gimmicky. There’s nothing wrong with traditional Test cricket to begin with.

“They’re trying to get the crowd on and change the game a little bit but the way England are playing Test cricket at the moment, I don’t think that needs to happen. We’re entertaining people like we are.”

England will be out to entertain again at the Bay Oval from Thursday, giving the crowd something to enjoy against a front that may have been affected by the cyclone that has ravaged New Zealand’s North Island. The audience can see the history of Brook and Anderson and Broad make.

As has become the norm with Bazball, the record is not too far away.

England XI for first Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson

Follow England’s two-Test series in New Zealand, which starts on Thursday, on the Sky Sports digital platform.