Just over a year into the partnership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, one thing is clear - Bazball is a lawless game.
Rules? There are no rules.
Except for one, perhaps. You have to try and hit the first ball of any given day to the boundary.
Zak Crawley cracked Pat Cummins’ opener to the fence on Friday and, on Monday, Joe Root tried to ramp the Australian skipper to the ropes.
Taking liberties with one of the world’s best fast bowlers is, it seems, all part of the fun.
Taking liberties with one of the world’s best spinners is, it seems, also part of the fun.
The problem is that Nathan Lyon and Cummins took four wickets apiece in England’s second innings and might well have the last laugh on Tuesday.
England will give it all they have on the final day but it still could end up Bazball 0, Ozball 1.
And, in that case, there will be plenty who will argue it is already time to get serious.
When the fun stops, stop, etc, etc.
Hopefully, they will do absolutely nothing of the sort.
Do England need to look at changing their approach for the second test? Have your say in the comments section
Of course, issues have arisen over four utterly compelling days that will need to be addressed at some stage.
Jonny Bairstow might be first class with the bat but is occasionally club class with the gloves.
Even on this limited evidence, it is clear the series workload for James Anderson will have to be limited.
And, of course, there is Moeen Ali and his sore spinning finger, his two years of rust and his general career-long struggles against the Australians.
Ben Stokes operates a strict ‘no regrets’ policy but even he will surely have a rueful revisit of his decision to declare before the close of play on day one when Root was busy hitting Lyon into the stands at will.
So, there is plenty for Stokes and McCullum to go at.
But even if the final day brings a loss, there should be no scaling back when it comes to adventure and aggression.
In fact, Stokes might feel that England were not aggressive enough in their second innings.
Bairstow, for example, faced 39 balls for his 20, which is positively snail’s pace in the context of the Yorkshireman’s standards.
And while clear batsman error was responsible for at least a couple of dismissals - Root stumped after running down the track to Lyon and Robinson chipping the same bowler to Cameron Green - there was some outstanding Australian bowling.
And don’t forget, that brief period under a blanket of black cloud on Sunday when England lost both openers was a gift from the weather gods for Australia.
That is not to say fortune has been against England in the first four days of this opening Ashes Test.
If they do lose, it will be because Australia have been the better side.
But England’s approach - typified by Root’s attempted first-ball scoop yesterday (he soon followed it with a successful effort for six) - has still been wonderfully captivating and has still, more importantly, brought a new, thrilling dimension to a format locked in a fight for its elevated existence.
Stokes and his team-mates will back themselves to pull off a sensational win today but if they do not, no worries.
It will only be a battle lost for Bazball, not a war.
