The Ashes: Is Bazball dead? Onus on Stokes & Co. after going down 2-0

"Bazball is dead," former England cricketer Jonathon Agnew said on his BBC Debrief programme after his national team was handed an eight-wicket thrashing in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba, Brisbane on Sunday. A 2-0 lead in the Ashes, as history will tell you, is almost unsurmountable, though England did manage to rally after being in arrears by the same margin and draw the series in 2023.

Without terming Bazball ‘rubbish’ a la Geoffrey Boycott, Agnew found a milder word — ‘unsustainable’ — though some other past greats weren't so sure. While former England captains like Michael Atheron or Michael Vaughan, who are part of the regular TV bandwagon, felt Ben Stokes & Co.’s failure lay in closing out games from positions of strength in both Perth and Brisbane, Ian Botham was nothing short of scathing.

“I’d be asking the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) for a refund because this team for me is not prepared. I don’t think the bowlers are fit enough or strong enough,” Botham said on Triple M Radio. The legendary allrounder’s anguish is understandable, as the profligacy of two England pacers — Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson — allowed hosts Australia to run away with a 500-plus total, without a single century.

It would be presumptuous to say if a hammering by such a huge margin against an Australian team missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will cause a change in thinking on the part of Stokes and Brendon McCullum. There have been several occasions since Bazball's honeymoon period ended in 2022-23 when questions were raised about "one-dimensional cricket", to quote Agnew, but there is still a complete buy-in from ECB.

Here's what England’s batting coach Marcus Trescothick had to say on Sunday: “We’re trying to play the way that we want to play.” Stokes, on the other hand, felt the difference lay in the fact that Australia invariably outdid England in moments of pressure, and also felt dropping five catches on Day Two in Brisbane proved crucial. In fact, he and Will Jacks resorted to some old fashioned rearguard action in their second innings to keep Australia at bay for nearly three hours, showing there's more to Bazball than just see-ball, hit-ball.

Interestingly enough, England’s approach — which spawned the extremely readable Bazball: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution by Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult in 2022 — found an unexpected backer from a most influential voice in the enemy camp — Ian Chappell.

Speaking on Channel Nine, the 82-year-old former Australian captain felt that rubbishing the new England's tactic is itself rubbish. ‘’A batsman’s job is predominantly to score runs quickly so as to give his bowlers maximum time to get 20 wickets. What (Ben) Stokes is trying to do is win the Test from ball no. 1, that’s why I thought Mark Taylor was such a good captain for us,’’ the eldest of the Chappell brothers explained, to general surprise.

Point taken, but the accountability factor should be an overriding one at the expense of a cavalier attitude if England has to hit back in the third Test starting at the Adelaide Oval from 17 December. If the hosts go up 3-0 by any chance, it will be a terrible advertisement for England cricket despite some world class names, as it would make the Boxing Day Test at the MCG a dead rubber.

In a scathing BBC editorial, England’s batting came under heavy fire for repeating the same attacking mistakes across two Tests. “It is England’s batting that will cause the biggest recrimination,” the article read. “If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, England have collectively lost their marbles and their wickets. Drive after drive. Edge after edge. Catch after catch. Bargain basement batting from a group playing like millionaires.

"Sachin Tendulkar once made 241 in Sydney by deliberately resisting the cover drive. This lot must think they are better than the Little Master. The Bazball empire is now at risk of capitulation,” it read.

The onus is hence on England to regroup and match fire with fire — all in a week’s time.