Australia’s superior basics have shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight

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.