BAZBALL ON THE LINE

Cook awaits a decisive year

- MIKE WALTERS

SIR ALASTAIR COOK believes the next 12 months will define Bazball's gift to Test cricket.

If Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum bring home the sacred urn from next winter's Ashes series Down Under, they will be celebrated as the dream ticket who transformed attrition into a threering circus.

But former England skipper Cook says they need a "tangible" prize to consecrate the breathless run rates, trick shots and sheer audacity which have changed a whole sport's outlook.

In their collusion as captain and coach, Stokes and McCullum won 10 of their first 11 Tests as a double act, but in 2024 the going has been heavier, with seven wins and seven defeats.

And Cook, speaking at Lord's as TNT Sports' expert pundit, claims their axis has reached a pivotal moment.