‘Bazball’ or ‘no ball’? Why England’s lack of attention to detail is costing them the Ashes

Eight seconds. That’s the attention span of an average human adult in 2023. That’s the same amount of time it takes to tie a shoelace or run out a batsman who wanders from his crease.

In the year 2000, our attention spans were 12 seconds.

What does this have to do with cricket? Well, not much other than to illustrate the rapid decline in attention spans that has Test purists concerned for the game’s future.

England’s attempt to make the game interesting again has proven costly for them during this Ashes series, but it’s not the strategy itself that has been costly. It’s the lack of attention to detail in the strategy that has proven costly, something that even a mere four seconds could help correct.

Extras hardly scores a run in most international Test matches, aside from maybe a misplaced bouncer or two conceding a run, or a batsman who struggles to catch up to a Mi

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