In Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult’s terrific book on the subject, James Anderson is asked what Bazball means to him. “Bazball is trying to encourage people to get back to the kid in you,” he says. “How you imagined the game would be: exciting, fast and fun.”
Some of the purest forms of Bazball are being played in leisure centres up and down the country. Walking cricket has given thousands of older people the chance to reconnect with their inner child, to remember how exciting and fun (OK, maybe not fast) cricket can be and, like any self-respecting Bazballer, to hit sixes. While 50-over cricket is having a bit of an existential crisis, over-50s cricket is thriving. If he’s not still taking wickets at Test level, Anderson will be eligible to play himself in September 2032.
