Aussie cricket great Kerry O’Keeffe says England’s ‘Bazball’ revolution had its roots in the tragic death of batter Phillip Hughes aged just 25
- Bazball was inspired by Phillip Hughes’s death, Kerry O’Keeffe has claimed
- Hughes’s passing in 2014 inspired England coach Brendon McCullum
- He has since implemented a happy-go-lucky approach to his cricket
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Australian cricket legend Kerry O’Keeffe has claimed that Bazball was inspired by the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes in 2014.
Hughes passed away aged 25 on November 27 after being struck on the neck by a ball during a Sheffield Shield match two days earlier.
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The incident shook the cricketing world and then-New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was rocked by Hughes’s passing.
In an interview with SEN in 2019, McCullum – who has implemented England’s swashbuckling style of cricket since becoming their head coach – says Hughes’s death was a ‘moment that I’ll remember for the rest of my life’.
‘Just the fact that a player playing cricket could pass away in those circumstances just made us all realise that the game can be life or death,’ McCullum said.
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Kerry O’Keeffe claims he knows the origins of England’s swashbuckling ‘Bazball’ approach
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Ben Stokes’s side has entertained with a free-flowing attacking brand of cricket
‘I think that transferred into a happy-go-lucky kind of approach with our cricket.’
And O’Keeffe believes that McCullum’s realisation after Hughes’s death planted the early sides of Bazball.
‘Look, I lay it (Bazball) at the feet of Brendon McCullum,’ O’Keeffe told Fox Sports.
‘And I lay it also, and may he rest in peace, Phillip Hughes. Because that was a defining moment in Brendon McCullum’s career.
‘When Phillip Hughes died on the pitch, it was 2014, Brendon McCullum was captaining New Zealand.
‘He said we are going to play without care, without consequence, because we are going to play every day as if it’s our last and to hell with judgment.
O’Keeffe says Phillip Hughes’s tragic death inspired England coach Brendon McCullum
‘Two years later, he scored the fastest Test century in the history of the game, 54 balls against Australia. Bazball is a consequence of Phillip Hughes’ passing.
O’Keeffe added: ‘If you detach from consequence and you don’t feel judged, you play freely. That’s what this England side is doing at the moment and they’re doing it so well.
‘The seed was germinated through the passing of Phillip Hughes.’
