‘If we’d cottoned onto that earlier’: Baz finally admits Poms’ mistakes but dismisses key batting claim

England coach Brendon McCullum has conceded an inability to absorb the pressure applied by Australia was a fatal flaw that sparked tourists humiliating Ashes defeat in just 11 days.

But is ‘Bazball’ to blame? That is a matter of perception, with the besieged coach saying England demonstrated what they could do in the latter stages of the Adelaide Oval Test.

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While England fought hard in Adelaide when beaten by 82 runs, it was another defeat characterised by rash shots at inopportune moments and wayward periods when bowling that allowed Australia to establish an impregnable position.

Under McCullum and Ben Stokes, England designed a system firmly aimed at the Ashes, yet the ‘Bazball’ method was put to the test by a thorough performance by Australia in all three Tests played this summer.

Praising the fight shown by England over the past two days, McCullum claimed ‘Bazball’ was never about scoring quickly. But the decision to revert to a more traditional Test match tempo came too late to avert a disastrous thrashing in Australia.

England’s preparation has been panned, with their failure to play a match aside from an outing against the English Lions prior to Perth and then opting against sending any of their stars to Canberra for the Prime Minister’s XI game criticised.

The optics of heading to Noosa for a break between the Brisbane and Adelaide Tests also drew scorn.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of questions asked and rightfully so. We haven’t got everything right and I haven’t got everything right as a coach either,” he said on Test Match Special.

“I put my hand up for that and I accept that and you try and work out ways that you can try … identify things which you need to make sure that you polish upon to give yourself more of a chance.

“I have been very strong in the conviction we have had about our preparation and obviously for us it was a matter of trying to replicate what we have done in previous series which have been successful, away from home, with our preparation.

“But maybe we didn’t quite get that right and I’ll acknowledge that. There is no exact science but obviously we haven’t won, soe therefore you go back to what could could have done or might have done differently.”

But McCullum attributed the failure in the series to struggling to perform when feeling too much pressure in an interview with the BBC.

“We are obviously disappointed to lose the opportunity to win the Ashes, but I thought today and the last couple of days has been much better. (It is) amazing what you can achieve when you just play,” he said.

“Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves and … and seem to think about things other than playing the game. The last couple of days we have got back to what we do, which is immersing ourselves and just playing.”

With Will Jacks and Jamie Smith, who produced his best performance of the series when scoring 60, at the crease on Sunday morning, English fans at Adelaide Oval hoped the tourists might pull off a historic run chase.

But Smith lost his head when skying a drive off the bowling of Mitch Starc to Pat Cummins, with the Aussies eventually coasting to a win McCullum acknowledged was due to a “formidable Australian performance (in) batting, bowling and fielding.”

England’s top-order has fallen repeatedly to poor shots but McCullum denied it was as a result of trying to bat too aggressively.

“(It is) not so much about tempo. It is about being able to make good decisions in pressure moments,” he said.

“For us, from the get-go, it has never been about scoring rates. It is about respecting what is coming at you (and being) present in the moment. You identify what the levels of risk are, but what the opportunities are and make sure how to counter that.

“(You need to) be able to apply press when you need to and absorb pressure when you need to. I don’t think we have got that balance right in the previous encounters in the series.”

McCullum, who said there was clear improvement in the line and length bowled by England on Day 4 of the Adelaide Test, conceded he was frustrated the uptick had come at a time the Ashes was effectively already lost.

“You sit there and go, if we had cottoned onto that earlier then we would have been more competitive,” he said.

“I think the boys were excellent today. They showed some great application. They bounced of each other and tried to take the game as deep as they could. We didn’t get there, but I thought it was a fine achievement. (And) it is not just the batting.

“With the ball, we took 6-70 on the morning of the fourth day. I thought our accuracy with the ball and the field we had and the intensity we had and the precision with our lengths was much more polished from the previous Test matches. I thought across the board it was an improved performance. (It is) frustrating it has come at this time.”

He praised the performance of spearhead Jofra Archer who, after being criticised for a stoush with Steve Smith at the Gabba, secured five Australian wickets in the first innings and then batted with poise late in England’s first innings.

“Jofra, he’s had a terrific series. He has bowled brilliantly for us. He has batted well. He has been in some big moments, and he has stepped up. He is a wonderful cricketer (and) we know how much playing for England means to him,” McCullum said.

“He has worked unbelievably hard over the last couple of years. (He has) turned down some significant opportunities around the world in short version cricket to commit to play for England in Test cricket. He has been immense for us.”