🔗 Share this article

Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised in the future. 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.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.