'Spirit of Cricket' covers England's Bazball cracks

"That's all you'll ever be remembered for" was what veteran England pacer Stuart Broad told Alex Carey when the former walked out to bat after Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal. However, the only thing that seems to be worth remembering for now is that Australia are 2-0 ahead and the hosts are left to win the remaining three Tests to reclaim the Ashes.

There has been a lot of talk about the 'Spirit of Cricket' after Carey's stumping of Bairstow. Whether the Australian captain should have withdrawn the appeal is a debate that will continue for the remainder of the series, and longer. But it has only shifted the focus away from what has been a reality check to England's Bazball ideology.

Head coach Brendon McCullum has claimed that the final day's play at Lord's has further galvanized the hosts and they will come back harder to make it 3-2. But for that they first need to look at why they are 2-0 down in the first place.

The Bazball ideology worked for England over the past 12 months as they won 11 of their 13 Tests coming into the Ashes. But some passages of play in the first two Ashes Tests suggest that England are erring with their timing of the ideology's execution.

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Ben Stokes showed the mirror to other England batters

Some sections of fans and pundits would believe that only the Bazball ideology has enabled England to run Australia close in the first two Tests. But Ben Stokes' knock in the second innings gave a glimpse of what could have been to the hosts.

Stokes approached his innings the way any Test batter would do when walking out at 45/4. He got his eye in, built a strong foundation with Ben Duckett and gave himself enough time to get used to the pitch and the varying bounce.

Once Ben Stokes was set and realized that only he stood between Australia and victory, the all-rounder unleashed himself, smashing almost every bowler out of the ground. Many would link this phase to the hosts' ultra-attacking brand of cricket, but it was the well-thought-out version.

The Australians seemed helpless as Stokes went all guns blazing, manoeuvering the field with ease. And it begs the question - What if every England batter had shown such game awareness? Would the scoreline be different?

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Did lack of temperament get disguised behind the Bazball brand?

England were on the backfoot when they conceded 416 runs in the first innings despite getting the best conditions to bowl. But in reply, at 188-1, they were in a situation where they could have called the shots. The visitors had also lost the services of Nathan Lyon to injury.

And that was when Australia employed the short-ball strategy and the hosts walked straight into the trap. Staying true to their Bazball mindset, albeit ill-advisedly, they went hard and surrendered their stronghold on the match. They regularly found fielders in the deep and began falling like ninepins. Ultimately, the 91-run lead proved to be a massive boost for the visitors as they dominated the rest of the game playing traditional Test cricket.

The hosts will need to realize that while Bazball has given them success, there are situations where the batters have to grind out the opposition and get a psychological advantage. Things could have been very different had the hosts held the fort and taken a first-innings lead instead of conceding it.

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Amidst bold media statements, there's need for self-reflection

No Ashes series is complete without mind games and this time, the hosts seem switched on and ready to fire shots at the opposition. But despite Zak Crawley's "win by 150 runs" claim and Ollie Robinson's "three No.11s" dig at the Aussies, the visitors have taken a 2-0 lead and are one win away from sealing the series.

When Ben Duckett defended his teammates' approach against the short-ball barrage, it seemed like they were in denial, which is quite dangerous considering there is a need for self-reflection.

While playing entertaining cricket seems a fresh approach, the ultimate truth remains that the team with the most wins takes the Ashes. Be it Australia's pragmatic approach of winning at all costs or England's winning is not everything mentality, winning the Urn is what matters.

As the dust settles in Lord's, preparations have already begun in Headingley for a possible comeback. While England will be fired up following the Bairstow incident, from a neutral's perspective one can only hope that the hosts paid attention to how they rattled the Aussies when there was a method to the Bazball madness, even for a brief period.