England's Zak Crawley reveals how Ronnie O'Sullivan shares the Bazball mindset

Ronnie O’Sullivan continues to inspire through his success (Picture: Getty Images)

England batter Zak Crawley is a big fan of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s attitude to snooker and says it is a mindset shared by Brendan McCullum.

Crawley is preparing for the huge challenge of a Test series in India with his England teammates, ahead of the first match on Thursday in Hyderabad.

The team led by coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will be bringing their aggressive style of cricket, that has become known as Bazball, to the subcontinent and Crawley has spoken out about part of the thinking behind the tactic.

The 25-year-old says O’Sullivan’s belief that results are not necessarily the primary goal, but allowing style over substance as a mindset will ultimately bring results with it.

It has certainly been working for the Rocket of late, having won the UK Championship, Masters and World Grand Prix in recent weeks.

‘I love the way Ronnie plays and talks about sport,’ said Crawley. ‘To him, the way he plays is more important than the result.

‘That’s such a powerful mindset. It’s a hard one to get into, but whenever you get into that mindset, you find yourself playing better.

‘Baz is big on that. He talks about it all time, that the way we play is more important in the long run, and that will bring results.

Zak Crawley will be playing when England begin the Test series against India on Thursday (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Baz always seem to find the right moment to speak. He certainly has an aura about him. He’s never negative. He’s an optimist. That’s what we need sometimes in English sport. As a nation we’re quite pessimistic at times.’

Crawley played in the 2021 trip to India, which ended in 3-1 defeat for England, but he believes the team return with a much better chance of success under their forward-thinking leadership.

‘We’re not going to change our approach,’ he said. ‘It has to be judged at the time. We talk about being fully present. If you’re not present, you build up all these ideas about what it’s going to be like, what the pitches will be, but we could turn up and the first Test is on a belter of a pitch.

‘We could turn up and it’s an absolutely raging turner, so you have to adapt your gameplan and play the situation. You can’t decide that until you’re out there and you’re reading the situation. This time will be a lot better.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.