🔗 Share this article

The England head coach despised the term Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area 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 bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by the coach's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.