Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.
However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.
In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to block out external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.
The reality, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.
The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.
Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with 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 valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.
Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.
McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.
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 produced a masterful performance.
Based on McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface 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 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.
In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.
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