England just don't get it and reaction to latest Ashes thrashing leaves bitter taste

Well, don't say it out loud.

- CAMERON PONSONBY AT THE GABBA

“Leading into this Test match,” Brendon McCullum said after the conclusion of a brutal second Ashes Test for England, falling 2-0 behind Australia. “I actually think we overprepared, to be honest.”

A bookmark moment for Ashes obituaries everywhere. The leader and co-founder of Bazball, alongside Ben Stokes, was hard on himself and the team, making light of a galling defeat that all but ends England’s hopes Down Under, falling to an eight-wicket loss. People had waited so long for this. The referendum on a new style of play, contested in a box-office series between cricket’s two oldest enemies. And after six days on the pitch - it’s all but done.

People respond to setbacks differently. The point of this England team is to wear international cricket lightly while understanding its gravitas. A nigh-on impossible tightrope to navigate, but an admirable one, nonetheless. “Make sure the top two inches are right,” has become the group’s newest catchphrase. It makes sense. Cricket is a mentally gruelling game.

But leadership lives in diplomacy as well. The ability to read a room. This is the leader of a team who, rightly or wrongly, has a reputation of the 11 men who like a beer and a round of golf with a side of cricket. A team that has already received criticism for only playing one warm-up fixture ahead of the tour and for skipping a two-day game in Canberra. Don’t say, after scheduling two extra days of training ahead of this Test, that you had actually overprepared. People will laugh at you. The way this tour is going, jobs are on the line, and things are hitting the fan, so keep people onside.