Brendon McCullum hated the term Bazball from the moment it entered the lexicon, deeming it to be reductive and perhaps knowing how it might be weaponised down the line. Now, 2-0 down in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.
But McCullum has not helped himself, either. After the gutting at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England trained “too hard” before the day‑night match was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.
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Peter Moores was misquoted when he said he wanted to “look at the data” after England’s grim exit from the 2015 World Cup (“look at it later” were his words, having actually gone away from the numbers). There is no doubt that McCullum meant what he said on Sunday, however, repeating it in various ways to multiple outlets as he and Ben Stokes surveyed the wreckage.
On one level you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum claims to block out external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England side that has become increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared; unwilling to do the hard yards, unless that yardage relates to the fairways of the nearest golf course.
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The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba, they did more, five days to Australia’s three given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in visibility conditions.
They could have gone to Canberra. But the sight of Sam Konstas lobbing up part-time pies to the Lions, while 12th men sat under blankets in the cold, showed a limit to the value of that game. Folks keep saying they should have booked the Waca before Perth Stadium – like India 12 months earlier – but renovations, the WBBL, and a Sheffield Shield match put paid to that.
McCullum’s point about “training too hard” was that those five days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match’s worth of mental energy was spent before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia’s stronghold. Although nets are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence stuff that simply keeps the reflexes sharp and the muscles moving.
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Schedules are tight such that pre‑series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, when you consider England 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 wasted summer. It is different, no question, and the selectors have been right to look beyond the numbers. But volume surely still counts for something.
Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None have shown the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered so far.
McCullum’s free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well‑diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an upgrade to the original software as results have tapered off to 14 wins and 14 defeats from their past 30 Tests.
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Perhaps it is no coincidence that England’s two most adaptable players, Stokes and Joe Root, are both into their 30s and started out in Andy Flower’s more hardline regime. When Stokes spoke about not having “weak men” in his dressing room, it referred to the resilience required to take on Australia. India, who won here in 2018-19 and 2020-21, had it by the bucketload.
Only Stokes knows who he thinks may be lacking in this department and it may well include one or two who have racked up the red-ball miles. But over the course of the first two Tests there are clearly players who are struggling to deliver in terms of output – high ceilings that have plenty of headroom, or hands that tighten up when the catch comes flying.
Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered such a virtuoso performance. Stuart Broad does regret saying the stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s in 2023 was all Carey would be remembered for but he has rubbished it regardless.
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Going by McCullum’s words in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case more broadly – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth’s trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day‑night format now out of the way.
The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle‑order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.
With Shoaib Bashir having gone wicketless for the Lions, a spin‑bowling option among the top seven would allow five seamers once more, with the spiky wicket-taking threat of Josh Tongue yet to be tried out. Easing the bowling load for Stokes would also make him more effective.
None of this is ideal, however, with Australia’s superior basics having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.
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