When Brendon McCullum was appointed head coach of the England Test team in May 2022, he arrived armed with the mantra of positivity and aggression. England were going nowhere as a Test team under the management group of captain Joe Root and coach Chris Silverwood; McCullum and new skipper Ben Stokes redefined their approach to the five-day game.

That was the genesis of Bazball, as the new England Test-match dynamic has come to be known. Taking the attacking option to the exclusion of almost everything else. When it comes off, it is spectacular. When it doesn’t, it can look silly and self-defeating. Which has been the case quite frequently, but England are determined not to veer from their avowed goal.