Still no sign of 'Bazball' coming off the rails as England roll on - Chris Waters

Perhaps in Pakistan?

No, England won 3-0 there in December.

Perhaps in New Zealand then?

Well, England won the first Test on Sunday by 267 runs.

Okay, so perhaps in the Ashes next summer?

Perhaps.

But there is no sign yet of the bubble being pricked, of the ‘Bazball’ train running into the buffers.

On a day when England hurried to victory in Mount Maunganui, and Australia hurtled to defeat against India in Delhi, the trajectory of the Ashes rivals could not have felt more different.

While Australia are struggling (albeit against a very good team playing at home on turning pitches), England are soaring, and although conditions will evidently be very different when the Ashes rivals go head-to-head in June, there seems little to fear on the immediate horizon.

This latest victory was England’s 10th in 11 Test matches under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, and their sixth in succession.

When they came together last May, England had won one of their previous 17 Tests and gone nine games without a win.

That is not so much a turnaround as a full-blown metamorphosis.

At some stage – perhaps even now – it might just have to be admitted that this England side is actually very good, for there is no sign of ‘Bazball’ coming off the rails.

Indeed, there are few weaknesses to these eyes.

Granted, England do not possess a world-class spinner, which is intending no disrespect to Jack Leach, an extremely solid and dependable international cricketer.

And there are still question marks against the opening batsmen in this judgment, especially against the higher quality bowling that England can soon expect to encounter.

But those are question marks that could soon be erased.

When the World Test Championship final takes place in June, a match set to feature India and Australia, it could be argued that the best team currently will not be taking part. England are unable to qualify for the game at the Oval (a tinpot showpiece to a tinpot concept), but the WTC and rankings are not the be-all and end-all anymore than players’ averages are the only barometer of their quality.

If England are not the best team in Test cricket right now, and all will have their views, then fewer arguments might attend the claim that they are perhaps the most watchable.

Although the current series (which continues and concludes in Wellington from 10pm on Thursday UK time) is not part of the WTC, is buried behind a television paywall and is taking place in the middle of our nighttime, one can hardly take one’s eyes off it.

That is a tribute to the way that England are playing – the astonishing scoring rates, the bold declarations – in what is more of a one-day approach to the five-day format: not that fifth days have much use in the Stokes-McCullum era if the weather plays ball.

The sense of freedom and enjoyment within the group is summed up by Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, who described it as “some of the most fun I have had”, which only begs the question as to what fun Brook has had which might possibly compare or usurp it; better not go there.

“Every time I bat I’m really excited to go out and do whatever I want,” said Brook, seemingly neither constrained by fear nor meddling managerial instruction.

Brook epitomises the spirit of “Bazball”, a supremely gifted player given full licence to showcase the supremeness of his gifts.

Had he come into the team under previous managerial incarnations, he might not have performed in such a joyous and uninhibited way and been forced to rein in his game accordingly.

Brook’s fledgling Test record is outstanding: after an unremarkable debut against South Africa at the Oval last September, when he made 12 in his solitary innings, he has produced successive scores of 153, 87, 9, 108, 111, 89 and 54. He has also won three successive player-of-the-match awards to go with the player-of-the-series accolade for his efforts in Pakistan.

A strong case could be made for saying that he is currently the team’s best batsman, even if the sample size at this stage is necessarily small.

Few players have taken to Test cricket so readily or looked so rapidly as if they instantly belonged; to Stokes and McCullum must go significant credit for allowing him to play with such freedom and clarity of purpose.

The only downside for Yorkshire’s supporters, of course, is the perennial fly-in-the-ointment that they are unlikely to see much of Brook for the rest of his career.

On Wednesday he turns 24 and, with the way that things are going in world cricket right now, they might even be grateful for 24 more county appearances from him between now and his retirement date.

England have power to add looking ahead to the Ashes – not least that of Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, to name but three.

A broken leg has kept Bairstow out of the side lately but an England side without him is like an afternoon without sunshine.

England are juggling riches as the revolution rolls on.