Clearly having the fulcrum of the Test side taken away so close to departure upset the balance of the side but it also dictated the tone of a tour which has seen England on the back foot on and off the field from the moment they touched down.

Their handling of the ‘head-butt’ and the drinks throwing in The Avenue bar in Perth was confused, with both being labelled “trivial” but “unacceptable” and one leading to a midnight curfew while the other the book being thrown at Ben Duckett.

That can be traced back to Bristol.

Yet to lay it all at the door of the all-rounder is unfair both to him, those who played in his place and exceeded expectations, and would paper over some bigger cracks.

It was a telling statistic which emerged on the final day here at the WACA that of the 100 fastest deliveries in the series to date, 97 of them have been bowled by Australia.

Not only has England’s tail been blown away in that gale – losing their last six wickets for 56, 82, 125, 64, 35 and 85 in three Tests – but some senior players have wilted under the most intense examination.

Alastair Cook, 32, has put in extra nets and worked hard at his game here in Australia but looks a shadow of his former self, averaging under 14.

Cook is not the only one with Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad failing to measure up but the sense he is edging towards spending more time with his young family – he has two daughters aged two and a half and 13 months – and his farm is unavoidable.

The opener reached his 150th Test in Perth this week insisting he wants to carry on.

But he has looked as though his defensive game – the bedrock of his career is failing him – getting out to defensive shots more than attacking ones.

Cook will want to go out on his own terms but New Zealand will be no easier and the MCG or SCG would be fitting stages if he could just get a hundred.

Plenty was expected of Ali but his three wickets have cost over 105 each and his average with the bat is under 20.

He was hampered by a lack of match practice going into the first Test after a side strain then a cut finger. But he has failed to use his feet and bat against Nathan Lyon and has been out five times out of six to the spinner.

Broad has had a series he would rather forget to date with his bowling lacking pace and penetration, looking as far away from one of his hot-streaks as he has in his career.

The spotlight has been shone brutally on his game in particular given the comparison with the increased pace of Australia. And, like Cook, it has exposed that he is no longer nudging 90mph for all that he has been carrying a niggle in his left knee.

Both Cook and Broad deserve the chance to have another crack but as they reach the twilight of their career’s England need to produce another opener – Dawid Malan perhaps – some bowlers with pace and a spinner with some mystery, something county cricket’s Championship placement on the outer margins of the summer does not help.

If England are serious about making players ‘Ashes fit’, Test grounds must attempt produce some flatter, harder pitches.

Do nothing and more results like this seem likely.

Trevor Bayliss is undoubtedly under increasing pressure and his honesty in press conferences does him no favours.

He appeared to admit that he had “not given much thought” to the question about why England were not producing fast bowlers in the aftermath of Ashes defeat which did not look good for all that he meant restructuring English cricket was not really his role. Bayliss’ progress with the limited overs teams is impressive but perhaps less so in Tests where England have lost their last seven overseas.

Arrangements for the bowling coach role vacated last summer by Ottis Gibson – Shane Bond for two Tests then nothing until Chris Silverwood takes up the role full time at the start of the ODI series – was questionable and left a gap for three Tests.

However Bayliss was employed with the 2019 World Cup at home in mind and it would be muddled thinking to get rid of him after an Ashes which has been closer than 3-0 would suggest.

For Joe Root, this has been a salutary experience but it is hard to draw conclusions about his captaincy.

For all that he has been negative at times he has been let down by his senior men on occasions – at Adelaide they bowled too short – and been offered no support from his spin option.

Root and the ECB will be keeping their fingers crossed for a victory in Melbourne or Sydney and a win would be an achievement given Steve Smith and his side will be gunning for 5-0.

Anything less will be a blow to Smith as he tries to emulate Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke’s achievements in 2006-07 and 2013-14 and prove a minor triumph on what has been a troubled tour.