π Share this article Brendon McCullum's 'Excessively Prepared' Ashes Mistake May Become The English Team's Bazball Epitaph The England head coach despised the term Bazball from its inception, deeming it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes. But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not take an upturn. In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While he claims to ignore external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation. 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. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions. The Debate of Readiness and Practice The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call β the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp. Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer. Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat β harrowing as some of the shot selection has been β but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed. The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase β an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests. Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, 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, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display. Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation β similar to the broader situation β is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past. Another option is to enact 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 busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023. Ultimately, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.