FEATURE: Will England's ‘Bazball’ cross over to county cricket this summer?

The summer of 2023 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the history of English Test cricket, with the Australians heading to the UK for a hugely-anticipated Ashes series in July.

And they are going to come up against a new-look, all-out attack, safety-last England side.

The leadership of head coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes has taken the five-day format somewhere it has never been before over the course of the past 12 months.

'Bazball', as it has been christened, has seen England take an absolutely fearless and 100 per cent positive approach to Tests with, on the whole, stunning results.

Batters are told to go out and attack, to play their natural game, and not to worry about the consequences if it goes wrong and they get out.

England have made it their trademark to try and chase down any target, in any conditions, as quickly as they possibly can – and in the majority of cases they have succeeded.

The bowlers too are encouraged to attack and strive for wickets, to try different things, to make inroads into the opposition batting line-up. Not just run in and bowl to a field to contain and then hope something happens.

Stokes, as captain, has led the way, wanting the team to play in his own swashbuckling image, and it has certainly paid dividends - with England winning 10 of their past 12 Tests, most in totally thrilling fashion.

They lost their most recent match in New Zealand, but it has still gone down as one of the greatest five-day matches in the history of the game as the Kiwis won a classic by one run.

It's all a long way from the safety-first, negative and conservative brand of cricket that many England teams of the past have played.

And, according to Northamptonshire batter Josh Cobb, there is every chance McCullum and Stokes’ attacking philosophy could rub off on the cricket played in this season's LV= Insurance County Championship.

The ECB has already announced a new points system for the 2023 campaign, with the reward for a draw dropping from eight points to five to encourage teams to go for wins rather than play for stalemates.

And the batting bonus point system has also been altered to encourage quicker scoring.

Teams will now not get their first point until 250 instead of 200, and if they want the maximum haul they have to rattle along to 450 inside 110 overs of their first innings.

On the face of it, they are not drastic changes, although they are sure to have an effect, and Cobb believes it is the way England's Test team is playing that will actually alter teams' and players' attitudes, and perhaps inspire them.

Especially if people have international ambitions of their own.

"We have got guys, especially Emilio Gay, wanting to play for England Lions or England, and he is seeing the way you have to kind of play," said Cobb.

"I don't think a 50 per cent strike-rate in four-day cricket is getting you a game in the England team at the minute.

"It is an exciting time all round, especially for English cricket, and it will be interesting to see how we decide to go about it."

And he added: "I definitely think it will have an affect on how players play, especially if you are close (to selection).

"Ultimately, if you are a blocker then you are not going to get picked for England.

"So if you are close and you want to change your game and up your strike-rate a bit to give yourself that better chance, I think that will happen.

"Ultimately, we are here as Northants players, and first and foremost it is about trying to win games for Northants in the way we are going to try to do that.

"But Emilio has got that much talent and he will be one of a few in our squad that will be really close to Lions, and he will certainly want to play a positive brand of cricket to not only help Northants win games, but to also further his career as well."

One player who has definitely benefitted from England's new attacking approach is somebody who players such as fellow left-hander Gay can relate to, and try to emulate.

Former Northants opener Ben Duckett won his first England Test cap while still a player at the County Ground, with the team then under the captaincy of Alastair Cook.

But, despite an early half-century in Bangladesh, his stint was short-lived as he was jettisoned pretty quickly after struggling in a couple of matches in India.

Duckett decided to make the move to Nottinghamshire to try to get himself in the frame, but he had to bide his time - until his recall in September after six years in the cold.

And what an impact he has made, scoring a century and four more half-centuries in six matches to currently boast a Test average of 38.62 at an impressive strike-rate of 85.89.

He is blossoming playing his natural, attacking game, just as he did when he first burst onto the county scene with Northants, having come through the club's academy.

"The pleasing thing about Ben is that we saw him come on to the scene and play that way," says Cobb. "I think then he maybe went away from that a little bit to try and play for England, because that was the way that England were playing at that time.

"Now, he is back to his free-scoring self which I think is when he is at his best.

"He’s scored the runs playing that way over the years, and he is now in an England team that are completely going to back the way he plays.

"Hopefully he can now go on to play for England the way he is now for many years."