🔗 Share this article

Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball from its inception, considering it overly simplistic and maybe anticipating how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was liberating during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.