Australian cricket great Ian Chappell has highlighted the evident flaws within the “rubbish” Bazball philosophy after England were stunned in Pakistan.

England’s self doubt was at a high as they were downed 2-1 in the Test series, having struggled to adjust to a reused pitch in Multan and then another doctored spin haven in Rawalpindi.

The Bazball approach effectively places emphasis on fast-paced entertainment over traditional Test batting, which has time and again left the team defeated. England sits sixth of nine nations on the World Test Championship standings.

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The approach has been proven to be flawed against any form of spin bowling, with England recording 10 defeats in 21 games in the past two years

Chappell noted England’s spinners evidently could not match the quality of those fielded by Pakistan in the series and the batters crumbled to the host nation.

“Have I ever seen spin bowling played worse than what England did? Probably never,” Chappell said on Wide World of Sports’ Outside the Rope.

“England were hopeless. Pakistan – their spin bowlers are all right.

“You are playing on a pitch that has been played on before but if you put that out of your mind you are playing spin bowling.

“If you listen to some of their commentators you will understand why England are very bad players of spin bowling.”

The former Test skipper labelled Brendon McCullum as “a dopey coach” for allowing his team to favour reverse sweep plays over more defensive batting.

“I would love to ask him who decided that the reverse sweep was safer than using your feet well,” he said.

“It’s totally illogical… When I hear an England commentator saying, ‘the sweep is the way out when the track is spinning’, what I should do is go bang and hit the mute button to shut them up.”

The defeat added to Ben Stokes’ recent woes, having recorded just three wins in nine games.

His overall success rate with the side stands at 17 wins, 11 losses and one draw.

Several poor decisions against Pakistan prompted Chappell to believe the 33-year-old may have become “tired” in his role.

“Bazball is the greatest load of codswallop ever spoken which Brendon McCullum, who it is named after, has said,” Chappell continued.

“The reason why it is rubbish, as a captain, what Stokes is doing is what England should’ve been doing for god knows how many years before.

“They are trying to win the game from ball number one.

“Sure, you have to bat aggressively because that gives your bowlers more time to get the 20 wickets.

“Getting 20 wickets is the hardest thing you’re ever going to do on a Test field… But you’ve got to try and win the game as a captain from ball number one, and that’s what Stokes has been doing.

“For some reason, he has stopped doing that against Pakistan.

“When you see a captain giving easy singles to batsmen, I mean, I watch that and it drives me absolutely crazy.

“I don’t know if Stokes has gotten a bit tired as a captain but he needs to get back to the old Ben Stokes who was a damn good captain and try and win them the game from ball number one.”

England next travels to Australia for the 2025-26 Ashes.