Combination of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum is like lethal cocktail: Sir Ian Botham

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum during England's practice session (PC: Twitter)

England 's Test cricket under new red-ball coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes has flourished, having won 5 and lost one Test since taking over from the Joe Root-Chris Silverwood regime. Their approach towards Tests coined as 'Bazball' is being discussed and also celebrated in some circles.

It was only against South Africa that the pair ended up losing a Test, having won against New Zealand and India earlier. The hosts' managed to hit back against the Proteas by winning the Manchester Test.

Former England captain Sir Ian Botham has praised the pair for bringing in a drastic change in English Test cricket after a disastrous year or so, where the side lost as many as 17 Tests.

Stokes and McCullum together

Recently, Stokes became the fifth cricketer after Sir Gary Sobers, Kapil Dev, Botham, and Jacques Kallis to record 5,000 + runs and pick up 150 wickets in Tests.

 Speaking to Metro, Botham said

"As a combination, it’s a lethal cocktail. You’ve got Baz [England coach Brendon McCullum], who I think was one of the most exciting cricketers I’ve seen in my career, and then you’ve got Ben Stokes and he’s box office.

There’s not many players in the history of the game that actually empty the bar. I’d like to think I was in the let’s-get-them-out-the-bar brigade and Ben Stokes certainly is."

The 66-year-old also mentioned that his captaincy record would have reflected differently if someone like or McCullum himself was in-charge of England during playing days.

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