To be honest, I don’t really care what it is called next, and I’m not going to miss hearing about it either.

For four years, we were told Bazball was changing Test cricket forever. Depending on who you listened to, it was revolutionary, fearless, entertaining and the future of the longest format.

At times, it was eye-opening. At other times, it was mind-boggling, delusional, and completely baffling.

With Brendon McCullum sacked as England’s Test coach and Ben Stokes retired, the partnership that drove the movement has ended. Both were naturally aggressive players who believed taking the attack to the opposition was the best way to play.

On paper, if you asked them, it probably looked perfect.

The reality wasn’t quite the same.

Under McCullum, England played 49 Tests, winning 25, losing 21 and drawing three. Those numbers aren’t disastrous. Bazball brought energy, confidence and some memorable wins.

Test cricket has never required a slogan. It requires good cricketers making good decisions for five days, by winning the right moments more often.

But it didn’t deliver an Ashes series victory or a series win against India. England also lost seven of their final nine Tests.

When the biggest challenges arrived, the philosophy too often became a substitute for reading the game. England never found the consistency or balance required to become a truly formidable Test side, particularly when conditions demanded more than scoring quickly on a flat belter.

Test cricket is different.

I’ve said for years that if England could balance attacking when the game allowed it with defending when the situation demanded it, they could become consistently difficult to beat.

Test cricket tests your technique, temperament, patience and ability to read the situation. Sometimes you must absorb pressure. Sometimes survival is the biggest victory of a session. Sometimes leaving the ball is just as valuable as hitting it.

Playing every situation with the same ultra-aggressive mindset isn’t bravery. It is refusing to acknowledge what the game is asking of you.

Too often, Bazball became a shield behind which poor decisions were excused.

If I were an England supporter I would be frustrated. Imagine travelling halfway around the world to Perth for an Ashes opener, only to watch it finish in two days after your batting line-up played as though every delivery had to be hit.

England had an opportunity after their bowlers did their job, but the batters refused to adapt, although in a position to do so.

I’d also be asking questions if I were one of those bowlers. Fast bowlers put their bodies through enormous stress, only for the batting group to come out with a “let’s have a swing and see what happens” mentality.

That’s not fearless cricket. That’s asking one half of the team to continually clean up the mess of the other.

Yes, England responded by winning another two-day Test at the MCG. But Australia won the series 4–1, with the five Tests lasting only 18 days out of a possible 25.

Now comes the fascinating part.

Who coaches England next? More importantly, what does the England and Wales Cricket Board want from that coach?

The next coach inherits a group encouraged to play one way. There are only 10 Tests before the next Ashes series. On paper, that sounds like time. Changing a team’s instincts and habits is not a quick fix.

Australia won’t think it has England beaten. Good sides don’t operate like that. But England must decide quickly what kind of Test team it wants to become.

That’s what I’ll be watching.

Not the next buzzword, but whether England rediscovers the balance with this ultra-aggressive team.

Test cricket has never required a slogan. It requires good cricketers making good decisions for five days, by winning the right moments more often.