It’s not quite over yet but we all know how this story ends – and it’s usually with a big fat nil. But there’s something about this Ashes capitulation that sets it apart from the rest.
In previous drubbings Down Under, England have been outplayed by a superior team or been a team at the end of its shelf life. The above doesn’t apply to this lot. This team should be at its peak and, man for man, is a genuine match for the Aussies, especially minus two of their main strike bowlers. But in depressingly familiar Bazball fashion, they’ve blown the best chance in a generation to win on Australian soil because of bloody-minded arrogance.
They can’t say they weren’t warned. Ex players – or ‘has-beens’ in the words of Ben Stokes – were queuing up to point out their preparation was flawed, that constantly playing wild shots outside the off stump would end in disaster.
But the Bazballers knew best. They were going to defy bouncy Aussie pitches and clout anything that moved to the rope. How’s that panning out, lads?
Stokes has been one of the few to put a high price on his wicket. His resistance in Brisbane was welcome, if rather late in the day.
But don’t expect his younger team-mates to learn from their leaders – and why should they? After all, there’s no pressure on their place in the side. Players like Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are blindly backed despite stinking records against the best Test teams.
The supremely talented Harry Brook gets away with gift-wrapping his wicket. Knuckling down and seeing off a tough spell of bowling appears beneath him. A flat track bully, if ever there was one.
As one day captain, Brook would be the next cab on the rank should Stokes step aside at the end of this series. But unless he can start taking responsibility for his own game, he can’t be trusted with the most important job in English cricket.
Stokes has made mistakes on this tour but he remains a strong leader and an inspirational talisman. Provided his body holds up, he deserves the chance to lead the team in the next home Ashes series , which is just 18 months away.
It’s the coach, Brendon McCullum, who needs to be shown the door. He was a breath of fresh air when he arrived in 2022 and clearly has a kindred spirit in Stokes, but his relaxed approach has bred complacency.
I’d started to wonder if he was in even in Australia. I’ve hardly seen him on TV and he’d barely done any interviews until showing his face after the Brisbane battering when he bizarrely claimed England had trained too much for the second Test. If the coach isn’t taking accountability, then why should the players? It’s all too chummy with a lads-on-tour vibe.
If the results are coming, fine, but in the big series against Australia and India, England are continually coming up short. And frustratingly, it’s not because of a lack of talent, it’s a shortage of cricket brains, adaptability and a coherent plan.
There’s no shame in losing to Australia in their own backyard, but the manner of this demise is as unacceptable as it is predictable. If the mentality won’t change, then the personnel must. The Bazball era is over, and it has been a failure.