England’s humiliating defeat by Pakistan calls into question the whole Bazball project

A pack of cards collapsed on the third morning in Pakistan. It went by the official title of the England Test team.

Batting was awkward on a turning pitch against Pakistan’s two fine finger-spinners but the ball was only turning – at times lavishly, yes – it was not keeping low or spitting. England’s response, in being dismissed for 112 and losing by nine wickets and the series 2-1, was, simply, inadequate.

It was inadequate to the extent that it calls into question the whole Bazball project. This England team, as a generalisation, have been encouraged to go out and play their “natural game” and to “express themselves”, but in challenging circumstances like these, their approach smacks of mindless optimism. When the going gets tough for batting, they react artlessly.

Hard hands, not a lot of footwork, and the willingness to play a shot at almost every ball: this recipe works on flat pitches, and wins Test matches on them. The feather bed of Multan, in the opening Test of this series, saw one of the great chapters in England’s annals when Joe Root and Harry Brook ran riot in posting 823 for seven, the fourth-highest Test total.

Promptly, Pakistan changed their strategy – bring on turning pitches – and England did not. Their response remained as it was. They said they were happy to keep playing their natural games. Well, their opponents were even happier as England were dismissed in 33.3 overs in the second innings of the second Test, and in 37.2 overs in the second innings of the third.

The British army was reformed after the Charge of the Light Brigade. Will England’s batting also be reformed? Will mindless optimism be replaced? This analogy extends to England’s batsmen riding bravely towards danger behind Lord Cardigan in the search for glory; not for them a grubby fight for survival in defending the last ditch.

Put it another way. Other Test teams in England’s history would have gone down for 144 and 112 in these same circumstances of the past two Tests, or for not much more. But the point is that they would have sold their wickets more dearly. This England team, under the current direction of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, are more generous: take one wicket, get one free, or two, or three. Hurry, hurry, the sales are now on: all wickets to go cheaply.

And the knock-on effect of these sudden and seismic collapses, if they only could see it, is that England’s batsmen encourage the opposition. The Australians can only be delighted at watching England’s one-track naivety: they know that this England side is inherently brittle.

Pakistan had only to be patient and wait – this was the message of Pakistan’s coach Jason Gillespie, an Australian himself, after the first Test – and an England batsman will try something completely inappropriate in the circumstances, a shot of excessively high risk. The last thing they will do is dig in and fight.

England six down before reaching parity

England needed much less than two hours on the third morning to be dismissed/to donate their last seven wickets. Resuming at 24 for three, they lost three more merely in wiping out the first innings deficit of 77. Both of Pakistan’s finger-spinners, the pugnacious Sajid Khan with his off-breaks, and the flightier, floatier Noman Ali with his old-fashioned left-arm spin, enjoyed another field day.

In the second Test, Pakistan’s two finger-spinners took all 20 wickets, in the third 19. You would have to go back to Jim Laker and Tony Lock in 1956 running through Test opposition to this extent. The Australians then were naive in playing spin on wet, turning pitches. Here, England have been naive on pitches that have been dry to the point of arid. The difference is that the Australians were not full-time professionals; England are meant to be.

Harry Brook was adventurous while he lasted, when there did not seem to be so much need to hurry. He came down the pitch to off drive Sajid’s off-breaks, for which there was something to be said; and he tried to cut or force square on the offside his sharply turning off-breaks, for which there was nothing to be said. A dab at Noman and he was caught behind.

Stokes has suffered some dramatic dismissals in Asia – he will not be too distressed that England do not have to return there until 2027 – and this one was right up there. It must have been a brain-fade: he shouldered arms to a left-arm spinner that was destined to hit the stumps. He stayed on bended knee: ever chivalrous on the field, he even lent forward from that kneeling position to toss the ball to a fielder. He did not care to discuss the possibility of a review with his partner Joe Root, which was worth a go.

It made for a poor match for England’s captain, perhaps his poorest. His hands gripping the bat harder than most, Stokes has not played one of his great innings on a turning track in Asia. His first-innings dismissal was artless, when lured into driving a wide off-break, and he did not bowl himself, when a yorker or two might have rounded up Pakistan’s tail before they posted that relatively huge lead of 77.

Root in the middle of this latest debacle recalled the lines of the boy standing on the burning deck; he had no company. He played some reverse-sweeps at Noman, which was sensible, when the ball was landing outside off stump and turning away, with only a backward point to stop him scoring. When a beautifully flighted and weighted left-arm spinner came along, he was good enough to edge it. Mohammad Rizwan has been dynamic in keeping to the spinners and further enhancing their value.

Calmness under fire, guts and resolution? Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson had done it in their first innings and yet again Atkinson seemed to have more of a game-plan than most of his top-order team-mates. He radiated some assurance at the crease and had to be bowled out.

The big question is whether Smith’s mistakes as a wicketkeeper are affecting his batting. A missed stumping in the first Test did not matter. Dropping Salman Agha in the second was crucial, and so too was the hard chance he dropped when Saud Shakeel had made 26 here, only to add more than a hundred runs off his own bat. Smith has the defence; he did not have to run down the pitch to cart Sajid over midwicket, such a high-risk shot. 

Was it the work of a frazzled mind when his decision-making until now has been near-faultess? The evidence is suggesting that he should give up the gloves and become number three, replacing Ollie Pope.

The rest of England’s players obediently followed - obedient, that is, to the wishes of Pakistan’s spinners. The home captain Shan Masood then knocked the runs off stylishly, even contemptuously. A target of 36 was no target. Reforming the approach of this England team is.

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have thrown their support behind their misfiring batting order, suggesting there will be no change to the top six for the tour of New Zealand.

England’s batsmen made a record 823 for seven in the first Test before falling away badly, making just 814 in their next four innings, including being bowled out for 112 as Pakistan won the series in Rawalpindi.

England fell apart when Pakistan pivoted to turning pitches and called upon veteran spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who shared a staggering 39 wickets in two Tests.

England’s batsmen struggled: Joe Root managed just 90 runs in four innings after making 262 in Multan, Harry Brook made 56 in four innings, Zak Crawley 61 in four, Ben Stokes just 31 in four, and Ollie Pope 55 in five.

Vice-captain Pope is under particular pressure after a feast-or-famine year, but McCullum and Stokes backed their batsmen.

“There is no doubt in my mind and no doubt in Brendon’s mind that we have got the best top-six players in England,” Stokes said.

McCullum echoed those sentiments, making no excuses and refusing to blame the pitches, which were re-used (Multan) and raked (Rawalpindi) to encourage spin.

“As the conditions changed we weren’t quite able to adapt to those challenges and that is a missed opportunity,” said McCullum. “We had our chances but we ran second.

“It’s pretty much the same batting group that came here two years ago, and were outstanding in these conditions, and it’s the same batting group that put on 800 in the first Test match. 

“We know when Popey gets in he gets big scores,” McCullum added. “It is not an easy place to bat at No 3. I know Popey will be disappointed with the volume of runs he has got. I expect him to bounce back in New Zealand and we will make sure he has the support around him to do so.

“We’re very confident, we’ve just got to make sure we keep allowing guys to develop and keep becoming the players that they want to become, and will benefit from that.

“You have to be honest and reflect inwardly for a period of time, working out ways we can keep adding on what we have. To get back on the horse in a couple of weeks to get back to the style of play we are more accustomed to, is a great opportunity.

“We obviously coughed up the opportunity to win the series. We did some good stuff throughout, and we leave ultimately disappointed, but also very much complimentary of how Pakistan played. But we know within ourselves that we’ve had an opportunity to have been better than that and we’re a little bit disappointed about that.

“The game we play is going to come with periods where it doesn’t go how you want, but you’ve got to hold firm and never flinch through those moments and keep persisting to where you want to get to. Eventually you will be completely comfortable with who you are as a player.”