It had to be done eventually. The glorious cheese dream in which England racked up four incredible Test victories could not last forever. The alarm clock would provide the awakening and the return to reality. But a loss to South Africa at Lord’s doesn’t mean the bubble is burst, the honeymoon is over or the ship has sunk. Now is not the time to throw Bazball out with the bathwater. If anything, the pumping in Protea’s hands was too much “Old England” and not enough Bazball. Less than three months ago, England were a mess that had forgotten how to win. Coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes combined to transform not only the results but also the individual performances of players like Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Pope and Jack Leach. The charge is that England needed a dollop of good luck in their string of wins against New Zealand and India. A no-ball here, a drop there and things might have been different. If the ifs and buts were cherries and nuts, we’d all be happy at Christmas. Things happened that helped England, but that’s sport. Had they got the win against South Africa and had the chance to play first, the latest result could have been reversed. That said, you shouldn’t ignore the factors that helped England to those four wins – flat pitches, a batch of balls that softened faster than well-chewed gum – but you don’t beat New Zealand, the world Test champions, 3-0 , Then make a record chase against India due to luck alone. England’s first defeat of the summer came as a result of their most passive display – McCullum called them “timid”. It sure wasn’t Bazball. As they rushed and went on to a second-innings collapse in front of a Lord’s crowd slowly realizing the Test would not see Friday night, let alone Saturday morning, England were deprived of the swash and buckle that characterized their batting at the beginning of the season. On the one hand, England were not allowed to flourish from the brilliance of South Africa’s attack. It is difficult for batsmen to impose themselves on Anrich Nortje when he bowls 94mph shells or Kagiso Rabada, whose stats – 250 Test wickets at an average of 22 at a strike rate of 40 – rank him among the best fast bowlers ever . having played ‘Inspirational spell of bowling’ – Anrich Nortje claims wickets of Bairstow, Lees and Foakes But England was not blameless either. Alex Lees and Bairstow were guilty of poor shots in the first innings, Pope and Zak Crawley surrendered playing across the line to spinner Keshav Maharaj in the second. Pace bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Matthew Potts looked collectively rusty, with only Potts bowling competitively since the win against India in early July. England can argue that a short-ball tactic has been successful against tailenders so far this summer, but it resulted in the momentum returning to South Africa on the second afternoon and was too much on the third morning. Because as exciting as it was to see England play such electric cricket at the start of the season, I always felt the real intrigue lay in how they would react to a defeat. “If you can meet triumph and ruin and face these two rogues alike,” wrote the poet Rudyard Kipling. Whether Stokes is interested in Kipling is unknown, but the captain has said throughout that the message to the players will not change, regardless of the results. England have named a squad for the first two Tests of this series, so there will be no major changes to the line-up for the next outing at Old Trafford, starting on Thursday. The return of Ollie Robinson for his first international appearance since January, probably in place of Potts, looks the most likely move. The spotlight will remain on champion Crawley, who has now gone 14 Tests without a half-century. Regardless of what happens in Manchester, the Kent man could also be backed to complete the streak at The Oval, despite the average falling more steadily than the value of the pound in your pocket. England’s support for Crawley is admirable, but there is a question of whether keeping him in the firing line is doing more harm than good. The lingering hope that Crawley will finally make it could also mean he misses out on the in-form Harry Brook, who has been tipped as a possible first-choice despite coming up against the middle order for Yorkshire. The success England have enjoyed this summer is not just about smashing the ball to the boundary or picking up the slip cordon at every opportunity. Equally important was the change in mindset, not sweating about what could go wrong, but wondering about the glorious possibility that it could go right. Players were encouraged to let go of the shackles and not let the fear of failure get in the way of success. Now a setback has arrived, how England recover will be fascinating. Bazball brought them to the track. They have to keep dancing with it.
