Why the Perth pile-on is perhaps premature

Maybe we are jumping the gun a bit here. Maybe it is rather premature to write England off. Maybe they do deserve some patience, even if their batters often lack it. Maybe England do indeed have the perfect plan and strategy to finally get the better of the Australians in their own backyard. Even if the two-day defeat in Perth may have triggered the naysayers in even some of the staunchest soothsayers and believers around this current England team.

It did seem to make sense to pile on the cynicism around Ben Stokes and his team in the immediate aftermath of the first Test. For what was at best two pretty poor sessions of Test cricket with bat and ball that cost them a match that they had dictated terms in for large portions. You could put it down to the shock and awe of the manner in which Travis Head snatched the contest away from England. On the back of their own batters blowing away a solid foundation.

But a few days out from that thumping defeat, and as we get nearer to the second Test at the Gabba, the overwhelming condemnation of this English team was perhaps overblown. For, surely, they are not out of this series yet. And they should give themselves every chance to bounce back, maybe as quickly as later this week in Brisbane.

But why wouldn't they. As we've said a number of times already in the last few months, the whole ideology behind their current brand of cricket, call it Bazball or not, was designed for this particular series.

Yes, history may not be on their side. The last time an English team came back from a 0-1 deficit to win the Ashes in Australia was 1954-55 after all. But rarely has there been an English team that has landed on these shores in the 71 years since who have had a singular focus for success here for a period of nearly four years as Stokes' motley crew of confident men have.

This is neither devil's advocacy nor is it a reaction to Stokes displaying an admirable sense of humility on Saturday while dismissing claims of his team being "arrogant" and accepting that they might have got a few things wrong in Perth.

It's, if anything, a fair reflection of the moments that England did have in Perth, which in hindsight they'll rue having let slip. And why there's every reason to believe they'll put themselves in those strong positions again.

They did a lot right during the first four sessions of the opening Test. They got into positions that they'd threatened to get into in the lead-up to the Ashes. Ben Duckett looked ominous in both innings while he lasted. Ollie Pope looked the best he has on Australian soil across both innings. And their much-vaunted fire and brimstone pace attack did manage to rough up the Aussie batting line-up in the first innings.

It was probably among the best opening salvos from an English team on Australian soil in decades till it wasn't.

It's probably then in England's best interests that they don't overreact to the overreactions around their loss. Whether it's in terms of doubling down on their aggression in a bid to try and prove a point or overly changing their blueprint, which would be very unlike them anyway.

It probably comes with the patch when a team in any code embraces what they insist is a unique, even unprecedented, attitude to playing their sport. Where the rest of the world shines more of a spotlight on their madness than their method. As has been the case from the conception of Bazball.

There is however a lot of method to the way they go about their training. Much more so now than what was on display during the 2023 Ashes over in England. It's definitely less kamikaze now and more conventional than what many would assume. Even when it comes to the maverick likes of Duckett and Harry Brook.

The best reflection of the mood around the England nets comes from watching Joe Root go about his routines though. In 2023, it was a bit manic, where he'd be content with 70 minutes of producing every shot in the book across two days. With coach Brendon McCullum constantly in his ear with words of blustery encouragement like, "Look at Joe taking on the big boundary."

In Perth, it was like the Root of old, where it was more clinical and a lot more cerebral. Finding ways to either do away with or to improvise on his natural tendency to glide length deliveries towards the gully region. Or just spending long periods leaving deliveries outside his off-stump. With constant conversations with assistant coach, Marcus Trescothick. No random reverse ramps or scoops like used to be the norm during his nets sessions in 2023. Not to forget much longer stints with bat in hand, which used to be a trademark of Root in the pre-Bazball days.

It's the same for the rest too. There's no bravado or machismo on show with how they prepare either. Exemplified by how much work Stokes puts into his own game but also when it comes to guiding a number of his players. He's been part of the first batch in every session with ball in hand. Before he joins his middle-order colleagues, Root and Brook, in the nets with the bat. But it's what he does once he's done that really stands out. Stokes will take up a position behind the single stump at the bowler's end and from there monitor and mentor both batters and bowlers.

He'll shout out words of advice to Zak Crawley as to what deliveries he should be leaving to the ones he should be playing at. With intermittent compliments for whenever the opener plays at one the way his captain expects him to. He'll keep a keen eye on Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope and the rest in similar fashion. He's also constantly in his bowlers' ears. Patting Brydon Carse on the back every time he beats the bat or pulling up one of the others for overstepping the popping crease more than once.

So, when you hear Stokes talking about his team's "desperation" to win here, they aren't empty words. You can see it in the effort they have put into every practice session, as you'd expect them to in Brisbane over the next four days leading into the second Test.

It's understandable that a slew of former English captains and greats have been vocal about their distrust in these methods. And that they have questioned both tactics and preparation techniques. That's a different equation. And they are different dynamics at play, even if Stokes has since regretted in public about referring to some of them as "has beens".

For everyone else to jump on the back of their collective criticism is perhaps a bit uncalled for at this early stage of the Ashes. Let's give them at least one more Test. And if they fail again, then all bets are off. Maybe it will then unquestionably be time for a pile on. But not yet.