🔗 Share this article

The England head coach loathed the label Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he claims to ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

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

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making 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 displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.