HOW THE WHEELS FELL OFF ENGLAND'S BAZBALL WAGON

THE LILAC HILL CALL

On the back foot before they even set foot in the country, England were forced to defend knocking back an Australia A match to play an intra-squad game at Lilac Hill. Ben Stokes almost looked embarrassed when he took six wickets in an innings, and then followed it up by labelling former England players "has beens" while defending the preparations. Stokes has since insisted it was not meant as a sledge at former players.

DAY TWO IN PERTH

It's easy to forget England actually led the first Test by 40 runs after the first innings, and were ahead by 105 with nine wickets in hand just after lunch on day two. Then it all imploded. Scott Boland drew the edges of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, before Harry Brook played a truly horrid shot for a second-ball duck. England lost 9-99, and when Travis Head smashed a 69-ball century Australia had gone from well behind to eight-wicket victors in the space of eight hours.

MARK WOOD'S INJURY

England were going to need Mark Wood and Jofra Archer firing if they were to genuinely challenge Australia this summer. But after requiring scans on his hamstring during the Lilac Hill game, Wood then pulled up with sore knee after 11 overs in Perth. He was initially ruled out of the Gabba, then the entire series a week later. And with that, England had lost its second-most experienced bowler behind Stokes.

TOO PREPARED FOR BRISBANE

England skipped a pink-ball warm-up game in Canberra owing to different conditions to what they'd find in Brisbane, then didn't show up with the ball at the Gabba. Brydon Carse was too erratic, Jofra Archer down on pace and Gus Atkinson largely ineffective, as Australia took a big first-innings lead. The hosts won the Test, and to cap it off England coach Brendon McCullum said his side trained too much as they headed for a pre-booked mid-series break in Noosa.

THE TACTICS IN ADELAIDE

Where to start? The tourists had spent the past two years preparing spinner Shoaib Bashir for this tour, and then opted not to play him on a turning wicket. Will Jacks played as a spinning allrounder, and while he proved his worth with the bat, he went for 3-212 with the ball across two innings. With vice-captain Harry Brook conceding England needed to rein it in with the bat after losing on two seaming pitches, BazBall disappeared and the tourists absorbed time on the flattest pitch in the country. Then with a world-record chase of 435 looking possible late on day four, Brook was bowled playing a reverse sweep to Lyon.

JAMIE SMITH'S WILD WHOOSH

Much like Brook's foibles on day four, Smith followed a similar pattern on Sunday. Suddenly needing just 150 to win with four wickets in hand and with an injured Nathan Lyon out of Australia's attack, Smith threw his wicket away. After hitting four boundaries in four balls off Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, England's wicketkeeper-batter swung hard and across the line of a ball from Starc and skied it straight to Cummins as mid wicket. Will Jacks helped the tourists reduce the margin to 82, but from the moment of Smith's dismissal any hope of victory was fanciful.