It's official. 'Bazball' is now a legitimate word that can be used without remorse in written and verbal communication. Recognizing the no-holds-barred, unfettered and aggressive mindset of cricket adopted by the England men's team under its red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, who is popularly known as 'Baz', the Collins dictionary has included the world Bazball in its lexicon. (2023 ODI World Cup | Cricket News)
The term was reportedly coined by sports journalists during the 2022 English cricket season, upon noticing the exciting new brand of cricket the team was playing under McCullum. It soon began to be used widely, especially during this year's Ashes series, where England bounced back from 0-2 down to level the series 2-2.
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Bazball is listed as a noun in the Collins dictionary, and described as "a style of Test cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner". Its origin is noted as “C21: after Brendon McCullum, known as Baz (born 1981), New Zealand cricketer and coach.”
McCullum, however, is not a fan of the term. "I don't have any idea what “Bazball” is. I don't really like that silly term that people are throwing out there," he had last year. When asked about the inclusion of the term in the dictionary, Australian batting mainstay Marnus Labuschagne hilariously replied, "Oh man that is garbage. I don't know what that is honestly. I have no idea what you are talking about," he said in a video.
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Bazball was one of Collins’ 10 words of the year and was also shortlisted for the Word of the Year but lost out to AI (artificial intelligence). It was also named by Harper Collins as one of the 10 most significant new words of the year. While the word Bazball has already been added to the online version of the dictionary, it will be included in the next edition of the physical dictionary.
