England need to finally move away from their high-risk, attacking 'Bazball' style of cricket and get back to basics after their Ashes series defeat, former captain Michael Vaughan told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Ben Stokes has urged England chiefs to keep faith with "Bazball" architect Brendon McCullum despite a stinging Ashes defeat in Australia.

The already-soured relations between bitter rivals India and Pakistan reached a new low when the nuclear-armed neighbour engaged in a military conflict in May that nearly snowballed into a full-fledged war.

Bazball's champions, coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, may argue otherwise and claim England's death-or-glory style can be retooled and rise again.

Four years on, Bazball is now in the firing line, with former players and pundits decrying the high-risk game on Australia's spicy pitches.

Like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Brendon 'Baz' McCullum has never been one for a U-turn -- as cricketer, captain or current England coach.

Glenn McGrath has backed Australia to secure a 5-0 clean sweep in the 2025-26 Ashes, predicting another dominant display on home soil when the series begins in November.  

He finished the five-match series in England with a chart-topping 23 wickets, the highest for any bowler.

A team who had won one of their previous 17 Test matches not only enjoyed a massive uplift in results, the manner of their victories came about thanks to a rapid run rate not previously seen in Test cricket.

Head coach Brendon McCullum says New Zealand wickets will be better suited to England's aggressive brand of cricket, dubbed "Bazball", after his side were crushed in the final two Tests in Pakistan on turning tracks.

Test captain Ben Stokes indicated Tuesday he would be ready to make an England limited-overs comeback.

England next return to test action in July against the West Indies, after this year's Twenty20 World Cup.

"I don't give too much away as the series is going on but I'm always man enough to say we got beaten by the better team," Stokes told reporters.

India's five-wicket victory on a spiteful track in Ranchi was not really a cakewalk, thanks to England's never-say-die spin attack.

"On this occasion, their skill was better than ours," Stokes told reporters.

"This England team are hell bent on doing things their way, and 'saving test cricket'. They are giving test cricket a shot in the arm because they are so exciting," Michael Vaughan wrote in Britain's Daily Telegraph.

England's bold tactics under Stokes and coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum have revitalised Test cricket and India, who have not lost a Test series on home soil since 2012, were always going to be a litmus test of that philosophy.

The on and off-field issues going on in the 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League, India making England taste their 'Bazball' tonic, an inexperienced West Indies making their presence felt at the Gabba, Liverpool having to look at life after Jurgen Klopp and the Australian Open awaiting a new Men's singles champion -- there are events aplenty for fans to dive into. Here, in this episode of The Daily Star's multimedia show, 'Pitch Perfect', we try to discuss briefly the current sporting scenario.

"They are playing successful cricket and the aggressive route of taking the opposition on, showing the world there’s another way to play Test cricket," Bumrah said.

England have certainly added spice to Test cricket with the way they have played Test cricket since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined hands. By eliminating the fear of failure, the England men's team have played free-flowing cricket and have not been afraid of taking bold calls even in the toughest situations - an approach that has been labelled Bazball.