Three matches into the Ashes, Australia have thrown Bazball into the bin bag. The jobs of the two main protagonists of the famed style of play are on the line after 11 days of cricket Down Under.

While Stokes has no plans to give up captaincy, McCullum has left it to the ECB. “I don’t know,” the coach said. “It’s not really up to me, is it?”

This is for the ninth time in 10 visits that England will have lost the Ashes by the third Test — and for the fourth time in a row.

Bazball could be best described as a synthesis of white- and red-ball cricket with the aim to breathe fresh life into the five-day game. It promised a new way to live for a format under constant commercial and scheduling attack. It’s been deliriously enjoyable at times, but Australia proved to be its graveyard.

England’s struggle

In four completed series with the Bazball model against Australia and India — both home and away — England have failed to win any.

All of their success has come against mostly second-rung teams. They have won 25 of 44 Tests with 17 losses under McCullum and Stokes. The series wins have come against New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The most significant came against South Africa, 2-1 at home
in 2022.

The Ashes in England ended 2-2, while they lost in India 4-1 and drew 2-2 at home against Shubman Gill’s young side.

Dad’s Army

Australia’s greying squad, with an average age of 33, was deemed unfit and no match for England’s Bazballers, who averaged just 28.

Stokes and McCullum came together after England’s last port of call on balmy Australian shores, in January 2022, ended in a 0-4 hiding. The two sides came from different directions, one trying to preserve an era, the other trying to prove a revolution.

But England’s best efforts were not enough to turn the tide. They failed to take advantage of a lacklustre Australian side crippled with injuries.

Besides injuries, Australia too had their share of problems:

■ Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the series, while captain Pat Cummins played in only Adelaide

■ Steve Smith missed the third Test after experiencing vertigo symptoms

■ Australia had huge uncertainty about their openers with Usman Khawaja’s uncertain form proving to be an impediment

■ Australia named two debutants across the series — Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett

■ Michael Neser hadn’t played a Test in three years

■ Cameron Green hardly contributed across the three Tests with bat and ball

Yet, England failed to take advantage of their opponents’ shortcomings.

Much before the Ashes began, former England pacer Stuart Broad said this was the worst Australian team in 15 years. He still stands by his comments while adding that “Australia haven’t played very badly and England haven’t played very well”.

Baffling selection

England No.3 Ollie Pope has failed to score a 50 against Australia in his last eight Tests and 16 innings, averaging only 17.62.

When Zak Crawley batted with Harry Brook in the second innings in Adelaide, it was only the second time the opener and No.5 had been at the crease together in 30 matches together for England. It tells a lot about Crawley’s ability to bat for long periods.

The selection of the injury-prone Mark Wood reeked of desperation and he was ruled out after the opener.

Besides Jofra Archer, England had no bowler who was capable of making an impact on Australian pitches. Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse were meant to be reliable bowling options but turned out to be liabilities.

But just as galling will be the litany of dropped catches, suggesting a definite lack of required skills.

Poor preparation

It’s admirable that England wants to play attacking cricket and it’s certainly entertaining for all fans watching.

But teams aren’t judged on entertainment factor — they are rated on results collectively and individually. Test cricket is a marathon, not a sprint.

Former England captains like Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan highlighted the visitors’ lack of competitive matches leading into the Ashes series. They had only one warm-up game, an effective intra-squad contest against the Lions over three days at Lilac Hill, on a notably slower surface from the one that they would be blasted out inside two days in Perth only a week later.

“They had so little cricket before the first Test, I don’t think they were match-ready for an Ashes tour,” Michael Atherton said on Sky Sports.

“Coming to Australia is a different cricketing culture, the crowds here, the kind of ferociousness of the experience, I think you need to be game ready and game sharp for it. They weren’t.”

Even after their drubbing in Perth, England turned down the chance to get more game time under their players’ belts in a two-day pink-ball contest against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.

Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie agreed, saying the English team “underperformed because they were underprepared”. A fact acknowledged by McCullum after the first two defeats.

Geoffrey Boycott took particular aim at coach McCullum, saying that Bazball had failed and “hubris has taken over from common sense in this England team”.

It takes character and mental strength to succeed in Australia and the Bazballers paid the penalty for their dreadful shot selection.

Postscript

In the light of England’s failure, it would be appropriate to once again highlight
and laud India’s grit and tenacity during their consecutive series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21 despite battling various injuries and Covid-19 regulations.