England unveil more dangerous Bazball 2.0 - Agnew

There is a significance attached to England’s performance at Trent Bridge in the defeat of West Indies in the second Test.

It was two years ago at Trent Bridge where what we came to know as Bazball was born, with Jonny Bairstow’s blistering century leading England to an astonishing run chase against New Zealand.

At the time, there was a need for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum to come in and do something different with England’s Test cricket. They inherited a team that had won only once in 17 matches. They were in crisis-management mode.

For as much as England have thrilled and entertained us since then, their style was too risky and full-on. They jeopardised good positions, particularly in the Ashes last summer and on the tour of India earlier this year.

It was time for a particular chapter of Bazball to come to an end, for England’s method to be recalibrated and retuned. We didn’t need to see it in the first Test at Lord’s, because West Indies were rolled over quite easily, but the second Test required a common-sense approach to Test cricket.

And so, in Nottingham, the circle became complete. A year ago, faced with a first-innings deficit of 41, England would have come out in their second innings looking to go ‘bang, bang’ and score runs as quickly as possible.

This time, they played sensibly to ensure they earned the lead that would eventually win them the match. England’s batting was still positive, but measured. It was the work of a team intent on winning matches and series, which they hadn’t done for more than a year.

An intelligent England team is a more dangerous England team, because they and their opponents will know they have the gears to go through when needed.

As an example, the third Ashes Test, when England dished out a proper Bazballing only to be thwarted by rain, will live long in the memory of the Australia bowlers. Someone like Zak Crawley is still the same player who hit the first ball of that Ashes series for four. The likes of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook just go out and bat, because they score quickly anyway.

And Joe Root, who will end up with more Test runs than any other England batter, is playing like Joe Root. I got the impression he was quite badly affected by the Bazball mentality, none more so than when he was dismissed reverse-scooping Jasprit Bumrah in India.

At Trent Bridge Root played his trademark shot, but not until he had a century to his name in the second innings. Sir Alastair Cook, sitting next to me in the Test Match Special box, actually called it as bowler Shamar Joseph was running in. It was the right moment to play it, rather than doing something silly in an attempt to make a statement to the opposition.

In addition to the change of approach, England are doing some really interesting things with selection and these decisions are paying off.

With all due respect to West Indies and Sri Lanka, this summer always seemed like a good opportunity to look to the future. That is why it was right for England to tap James Anderson on the shoulder.

I have often talked about the integrity of selection, the idea that a player can know performances in domestic cricket are recognised and can lead to an England call-up.

It’s not that England are ignoring these performances, they are instead looking really closely at the attributes of county players and how they can benefit the Test team.

Jamie Smith is not the first-choice wicketkeeper at Surrey, yet England have identified his batting talent and got him in behind the stumps. He has kept beautifully, answering any questions over whether he would be up to the job.

And then there’s Shoaib Bashir, who was head and shoulders the best of the three young spinners England took to India, despite having only six previous first-class matches under his belt.

He showed England enough to persuade them he should be their spinner over Jack Leach, even though Leach is the senior man at their county Somerset.

There are not many spin bowlers that I have to physically look up to, but at 6ft 4in, Bashir is one of them. England have decided they want a tall finger spinner, particularly with the next Ashes in mind, and Bashir fits the bill.

But to say his only attributes are his height and lofty release point would do him a disservice.

He is a quick learner, as he showed by adjusting his line between the first and second innings at Trent Bridge. Bashir gets loop and possesses subtle changes of pace.

The 20-year-old was also able to accept the pressure of expectation in the fourth innings of the second Test, a time when spinners are supposed to come to the fore. His 5-41 made him the youngest man to take a five-wicket haul for England in a home Test.

Naturally, there is always room for improvement. England might think they could have made more runs in both innings, even though this was the first time they have made totals in excess of 400 twice in the same Test. Root also dropped a crucial catch that allowed Kavem Hodge to make a century.

Looking ahead to the third Test at Edgbaston on Friday, England could need a refresh of the fast bowlers, possibly meaning a chance for Matthew Potts or the uncapped Dillon Pennington. Having said that, the management are not keen on rotation unless they absolutely have to, a policy I agree with.

England should be targeting 3-0 wins over both West Indies and Sri Lanka, and are going about it the right way.