By Charlie Conchie
City watchdogs and stock exchange officials might be fretting over regulatory googlies as they attempt revive the appeal of London, but one chief thinks there might be a more straight bat approach.
The City of London needs to follow the lead of the England Test cricket team and start playing Bazball, the aggressive front-foot style developed by head coach Brendon McCullum, the chair of Lloyd’s of London said today.
In an extended cricket metaphor to the CityUK conference, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, who is chair of both Lloyd’s of London and the historic MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), he said the UK was facing “hostile” bowling from “both ends of the wicket” in the form of Brexit, political uncertainty and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Environmental challenges were also proving a “tricky pitch” to bat on, he added.
“We’ve lost some early wickets. UK growth lags behind many of our peers, recent political and economic uncertainty has impacted our reputation globally, the staying power of inflation has been badly underestimated by the Central Bank,” Carnegie-Brown said.
“We may have been trapped on the crease for an extended period, the answer to the challenges we face is not to hunker down, not to slow the pace and eek things out for a draw,” he added.
“The answer of course is to embrace Bazball.”
Carnegie-Brown’s comments come as top City figures search for ways to boost the appeal of the Capital amid a decline in listings and fears over London’s international status.
However, the comments also came after England’s Bazball approach faced arguably its most bruising day yet as Australia put a lacklustre bowling performance to the sword and posted 339-5 on day one at Lords.
Meanwhile, on day one of the second Test, Just Stop Oil demonstrators made their way onto the hallowed turf at Lord’s, throwing orange power over the pitch. One protestor was then removed by wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow.
Bazball has also coincided with turbulence on non-cricketing matters too. English cricket was left reeling this week, following revelations that racism is entrenched in English cricket and other forms of discrimination are widespread and deep-rooted.
A damning report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) published on Thursday found that half of more than 4,000 respondents said they experienced discrimination, with women “marginalised and routinely experiencing sexism and misogyny”, and “little to no focus on addressing class barriers in cricket”.
