India and Ashes Tests are make or break for Bazball

The finale. Or, at least, pre-finale is here.

- CAMERON PONSONBY

Ever since England retired James Anderson last year with two eyes on England's tour of Australia 18 months down the line, all roads have led to the Ashes. Even India at home, despite what the ECB says. It is a nonsense of England's own creation. A state of constant warm-ups, that somehow continues even when the superpower of the world game is in town.

That's not to say that the next five Tests won't be blockbusters in their own right. Sellout crowds are expected across the summer with India boasting a new-look side, led by the latest cricketing superstar elect: Shubman Gill. It will be his first outing as captain, too.

These 10 Tests will define the era of Bazball. A loss against India could be salvaged with a win against Australia, but who goes away to the Ashes and wins after losing their previous series? Similarly, a win against India, but a defeat to Australia would leave a taste of mundanity in the mouth.

India haven't beaten England on these shores since 2007, and England haven't won in Australia since 2011. Combine those two potential results and Bazball, for all its quirks and eccentricities, will have taken us the long way round, all to end up back at the status quo.

Two wins or two losses, though? Well, that's era-defining. Will this social experiment of sport leave with the legacy of something that was fun but failed? Or a genuine route to sporting success? This is the third iteration of Bazball. A term the England team dislike but one that is necessary. Everything needs a name.

That's why we have words. And what England have done has undisputedly been different. Run-scoring records have fallen at every checkpoint; all five of the fastest scores of 500-plus in Test cricket have come under this McCullum team. They have given Test caps to children based, in the case of Rehan Ahmed, on his talent. To Shoaib Bashir, on the basis of a social media clip. And to Josh Hull, on the basis of his height.