'Bazball' added to Collins Dictionary as one of the 10 most significant words of year
‘Bazball’ has been added to the Collins dictionary in recognition of how the word - coined to describe the aggressive style of cricket under England Test match head coach Brendon McCullum - has gained widespread usage.
Bazball was also named by Harper Collins as one of the 10 most significant new words of the year in 2023.
Collins defines Bazball as “a style of Test cricket in which the batting side plays in a highly aggressive manner”.
The latest print edition of the Collins dictionary was published in August. While the word Bazball has already been added to the online version of the dictionary, it will not appear in the physical dictionary until next year’s edition.
The word Bazball was first coined by Andrew Miller, the UK editor at the ESPNCricinfo website, in May 2022, shortly after McCullum’s appointment as head coach. It has since been used ever more widely, particularly during last summer’s Ashes series, when England rallied from 2-0 down to secure a thrilling 2-2 draw. Usage of the term increased by 400 per cent from 2022 to 2023.
The word is now widely used to describe a bold, risk-taking approach in other fields. England football manager Gareth Southgate has said that he has been inspired by the Test team’s approach, while prime minister Rishi Sunak’s approach has been dubbed a “political Bazball”.
Bazball “was probably the most significant new word to emerge from the world of sport this year,” said Helen Newstead, language data consultant for Collins Dictionaries.
“‘Bazball’ was first coined in 2022, but has seen an increase in usage of over 400 per cent in 2023. It refers to an aggressive style of cricket that brought a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of England’s test cricket team under their coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.
“The coinage ‘Bazball’ follows an established formula in sports journalism for naming a distinctive style of play after the coach who introduced it, which can be traced back to ‘Moneyball’, the title of a 2003 book about baseball by Michael Lewis.”
Since McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, took over as England head coach, in May 2022, England have won 13 out of 18 Test matches - a remarkable turnaround for a side who had won just one out of their previous 17 Tests. McCullum was appointed at the same time as Ben Stokes was made captain, with allrounder Stokes driving the aggressive approach.
McCullum has previously said that he dislikes the word. “I don’t really like that silly term that people are throwing out there, because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers they put pressure on,” he said last year.
