🔗 Share this article

Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have so far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that point – the lack of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.