Wonder what England Test captain Ben Stokes would think about a team making no attempts whatsoever at chasing down 272 because they thought they are "quite a young, inexperienced team..." and focussed only on "let's just see if we can protect our wickets"? At a time when England are hellbent on revolutionising Test cricket with their sam-bang 'Bazball' approach that believes in attacking cricket come what may, an opening batter, Ian Bestwick, batted 137 balls for 0 runs in a Division Nine Derbyshire Cricket League match Darley Abbey Cricket Club's 4th XI and Mickleover 3rd XI.

The level and standards of Stokes' side and this club match are not comparable by any means but it does give an indication that Bazball has yet to have a major impact on the roots of English cricket.

After Mickleover 3rd XI posted 271/4 in 35 years, quite similar to the Bazball style, where opening batter Max Thompson smashed 186 off just 128 balls, the Darley Abbey Cricket Club's 4th XI batted shut shop in the most watertight way possible, ending up with just 21 runs for the loss of four wickets in 45 overs.

Only two of the six Darley batters got off the mark, but none of them went past the double-figure mark. The extras (9) was the highest scorer even after 45 overs of cricket.

The father-son duo of Ian Bestwick and Thomas Bestwick were the main architects behind the blockathon. While Ian faced a remarkable 137 deliveries without scoring a single run. His son, Thomas, played out 71 balls for just four. 70 of those were dot balls as Thomas' only scoring shot was a boundary.

"It's gone round the world," 48-year-old Ian Bestwick told BBC Radio Derby after the match. "It has been mentioned in Australia, Pakistan, Qatar. I have had friend requests from around the globe."

The match ended in a draw but Mickleover 3rd XI got more points due to game rules. Both of them, however, are languishing at the bottom half of the points table.

‘Towards the end, I was determined not to score’: Ian Bestwick

Ian said the draw felt like winning a trophy. "Our dressing room was bouncing. [The players] were all grinning, and thought it was brilliant. It shows you how good local cricket can be. We had been in the field for three hours chasing leather all over the place. They came off and were dejected, [but] at the end it was like we had won a cup or something. The atmosphere in our dressing room was second to none. It was brilliant. Towards the end, it became a thing where I was determined not to score."

Referring to the opposition opener Thompson's whirlwind century that featured 17 fours and 14 sixes, Ian said: "He's not even the story of the day."

When someone asked whether he was exhausted after his performance, he had this to say: "Are you kidding? I have not done anything. I have not run anywhere."

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