UK View: One former English cricketer has declared Bazball 'dead', while another believes travelling fans deserve 'refunds'

English cricket legend Sir Ian Botham has had enough of 'Bazball', saying if he was a fan who had travelled halfway across the world to watch these performances, he would demand a refund from the English Cricket Board.

The visitors lost the pink-ball Test by eight wickets, once again blown away by the Australians and now face an uphill battle to come back from 2-0 down in the series.

Despite claims from coach Brendon McCullum and veteran Joe Root that the team was potentially "overprepared" for this Test match, Botham believes the proof is in the pudding.

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"They missed a trick. They could have sent the team that was playing in this Test to Canberra and then at least they would have had some experience with the pink ball," Botham told Triple M.

"What did they do? 'Well, we don't need to'. Well, I suggest you do need to. You dropped five catches. They could've been ahead (in the game).

"If I was an England supporter and I'd paid the money to come here, I'd be asking the ECB for a refund. This team, to me, is not prepared. I don't think the bowlers are fit enough or strong enough.

"I think Ben Stokes was probably the pick of the bowlers because he kept running in and bowling longer spells, but we don't really want him to have to do that.

"We want the main bowlers to be able to do that, but they don't seem to be able to come back. They bowl five overs and then come back for a second spell and they're five or even 10 miles an hour slower. How's that work?"

Cricket great Sir Geoffrey Boycott has also laid the boots into England, labelling their performance at the Gabba a "horror show" as a grim post-mortem begins.

Boycott, who played 108 Tests for England, is fed up with the 'Bazball' style of play and everything that comes with it.

"England talk the talk but can't walk the walk. With this sort of batting and bowling they couldn't win an egg cup," he wrote in the UK's Telegraph.

"Ben Stokes said England had a blueprint. They had been planning this tour for four years and know what they are doing.

"What a load of bullshit. We can't believe anything Ben or his team say. None of them want to listen to anyone outside of their own camp.

"They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game.

"One of the problems with this squad is it appears nobody tells them off or sits them down and discusses what they could or should have done differently.

"But what do I know? I am just a has-been who did four England tours of Australia winning two Ashes series and drawing the other two."

Former England Test cricketer Jonathan Agnew officially declared the Bazball era "dead", in his own media appearance overnight.

"I think Bazball is unsustainable," Agnew told the BBC.

"It did it's job. First year, it picked up some broken players. Got them enjoying cricket again, winning games and people loved watching it.

"It was good entertainment, but it's unsustainable. You can't play one-dimensional Test cricket and it's now at the crunch. I think Bazball is dead and we're going to see something different next time."

Former English captain Mike Atherton feels the Test match could have been close if not for England's poor lapses in judgement.

He praised Stokes and Will Jacks for digging in on day four, batting through a session and playing solid Test cricket.

"I just think there are times in Australia where you have to work hard to earn the right to be attacking and aggressive (with the bat)," Atherton told Sky Sports.

"I do not want to see England go back to being a defensive team and go back into their shell who won't chase targets, who won't attack the opposition.

"I think having that as your fundamental ethos is fine ... but it is not a sign of weakness to earn that right occasionally, especially in Australia where there is a bit more bounce.

"I just think the batters can look at that from Stokes and Jacks. It was some of the most high class Test cricket we've seen so far with Australian very disciplined with their lines and England really disciplined with the bat. It was kind of very old fashioned cricket.

"Well done to them on the partnership, but it proved to be too little, too late. If England had scrabbled together another 100 or 150 and if you put together all the wayward batting and bowling and all the dropped catches, there's 150 runs easily."

Speaking to Channel Seven after the loss, England coach Brendon McCullum had a somewhat sunnier disposition than Boycott and Atherton, saying his job was to "keep strong with (his) beliefs and make sure the boys stay tight".

"I think we'll probably have a beer tonight ... leading into this Test match I actually think we overprepared, to be honest," the former Black Caps captain said.

"We had five intense training days and sometimes when you're in the heat of the battle and sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh.

"I think the boys just need a few days off and we probably need to change-up a few of the training methods.

"I'm a horse racing man - you wouldn't just keep doing the same thing with your horse.

"We'll look at some alternate methods. We've got a couple of days in Noosa, it'll be good to spend some time casually and let the dust settle on what has been an intense couple of weeks and start to plot and plan our way back into the series."