England's revolution needs evolution if they are to reclaim Ashes

If you are one of those seduced by the thrilling spectacle of the first Ashes Test but feel that entertainment rather than results is the most important thing, then look away now.

This is Australia, the No. 1 Test team, we are talking about and while playing bold, adventurous cricket against them matters, so too does winning, especially when you have made all the running up until the last hour of the match.

Nobody likes to be the mug who has their pocket picked but that is exactly what England must have felt like after Pat Cummins’ team snuck in to claim a 1-0 lead in the Ashes, a possession that could have been theirs with a bit more care and attention.

Afterwards, Ben Stokes said he and his team had no regrets after Australia had stolen home by two wickets against the run of play. Well, they should have, and I’m discounting, for the moment, the questionable decisions over selection, the first innings’ declaration and the type of pitches they want for Bazball.

No, I’m talking about how, in the last 60 minutes play, when England’s approach was crying out for some boldness, Stokes eschewed his core philosophy and went on the defensive. How the man with the unwavering, 1,000-yard stare blinked at the moment when he most needed to keep an unerring focus.

It was as if England’s captain had decided Australia would implode under the pressure and that England just needed to keep it tight to hasten their demise.

Instead it was Australia, sensing hesitation in their opponent, who pounced with some bold cricket of their own to seize the game while England dithered, unsure whether to play the percentages or try something funky.

It was unlike Stokes but then the Ashes, despite England’s insistence that Australia are just another team, makes players do strange things. Another illustration of this confused thinking came when Moeen Ali was bowling to the left-handed Usman Khawaja on that final afternoon.

He had just dismissed Travis Head, another left-hander, with sharp turn off the pitch, which left Australia 138 runs to get with five wickets remaining. Yet Stokes persisted with a long-off.

Under conventional cricket, let alone Bazball, the fielder should have been up saving one. With the pitch turning and Moeen taking it away from Khawaja, the risky shot is the drive over the top. Half a bat’s-worth of turn, so not much, will bring a miscue and you’re in business.

But no, instead of bringing the fielder up and urging Moeen to pitch full to induce the drive, he let his bowler go into white-ball mode (hardly surprising given that is all Moeen plays) of driving the ball into the pitch, which given its sluggish nature made him easy to pick off for pressure-relieving ones and twos.

Stokes was not helped by Moeen’s raw spinning finger limiting his effectiveness on a wearing pitch (he only bowled seven overs on the final day) or by James Anderson’s lack of rhythm, not that the latter should have been a major issue against the tail.

When given the chance of pitting even an out-of-sorts Anderson against a No.10 with a Test average of 12, as Nathan Lyon boasts, especially when Anderson can have a new ball, the law of averages says you take it.

As it was, it was left to Ollie Robinson – his quip about Australia having three No.11s shadowing the drama like Banquo’s ghost – to back his crass words with actions, a quest as yet complete.

England not taking the second new ball when it was due was the moment Australia, who still needed 54 to win with three wickets remaining, decided to pounce. Some people have lauded Stokes for doing things the opposition least expect, but that can also backfire as when he kept Root on to bowl with the old ball.

Initially, it looked like another Midas touch after Alex Carey blasted a catch to Root, who clung on in the 81st over. But having got lucky there, Stokes persisted with him for another over and Cummins saw his chance to break the shackles against a part-time bowler by belting 14 runs off it, including two sixes back over Root’s head. It was classic smash and grab which Cummins wouldn’t have attempted had the new ball been taken.

You have to hand it to the Aussies, who showed why they are the world’s No.1 Test team. They refused to get sucked in by Bazball’s machismo and stayed true to playing the long game.

They are tough, fit, talented and know that if they make opponents work hard, especially when they have two ageing new-ball bowlers and a captain on one leg, they will weaken their resolve. But they are beatable, it’s just the task is a lot harder now England have allowed them a 1-0 series lead.

Before the fightback at Lord’s next week England need to learn from their mistakes, which they won’t if they keep saying they have no regrets about certain aspects of their play and tactics.

Let’s face it, they are unlikely to keep Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to just 35 runs in future matches, so avoidable errors – such as the grandstanding declaration on day one and Root’s needless hack against Lyon in the second innings – must be avoided.

If the Edgbaston pitch – dry, slow and not seam friendly – is the kind England want for the series, they need to make all the runs they can, as those surfaces do not play to their bowling strengths.

Only Stuart Broad consistently held his own in Birmingham which suggests some extra pace, in the form of Mark Wood, might be the call for Lord’s, though I’d play him in place of Moeen and let Root do the spinner’s job there, which is rarely match-deciding.

Most of us get that Bazball is about being positive at all times and avoiding half-measures, introspection and doubt, but it needs to evolve and add nuance if it is to beat an Australian team who weren’t at their best, either, in the first Test.

Of course there will be those who say England’s new approach, even when it fails, is beyond reproach as it has brought out the best in each player.

In the main it has but it has also, at big moments, brought out the worst, and it is that second bit that needs to be addressed if Australia are to be beaten enough times for the Ashes to change hands.

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