Join The Athletic’s Cricket WhatsApp Channel by clicking here.English cricket has been in utter chaos for the last two weeks and the most damning indictment of those in charge is that this is a mess very much of their own making.When England left Australia last winter the conclusion of all those who saw them lose the Ashes so badly was they were an unserious team. Their attention to detail was lacking. So England had to put that right this summer.They did so at Lord’s against New Zealand in the first Test. Then it all went wrong again.There are so many examples of that lack of attention to detail: England’s poor preparation for the Ashes, their poor shot selection during it and the insistence of managing director Rob Key that Test cricket, and Australia in particular, was not a place for any bowler operating at 80 miles per hour with the keeper standing up.He overlooked the fact that things had changed and the new Kookaburra ball was doing far more for those skilful but not necessarily rapid bowlers.Now there is the suggestion that the midnight curfew brought in after the 4-1 defeat Down Under had not been properly signed off and, in coach Brendon McCullum’s words, there was “ambiguity” over whether it was officially in place on the night England won at Lord’s.But whether that curfew was written in stone or not, Ben Stokes would have been a big part of putting it in place, and he broke — or did not understand — those rules at the first opportunity he had. If you’re England captain, that’s unacceptable.It is not, however, a sackable offence.Ben Stokes performed wholeheartedly for Durham in his absence from the England side (Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)I could see why Stokes and Gus Atkinson were missing from the second Test at the Oval and that, combined with the absence of the injured Ollie Robinson and Jamie Smith on paternity leave, led to an England side with far too little experience for the job. As ever, the balance of the side was affected without the England captain which led to no spinner, seven specialist batters and Jofra Archer at No 8 heading up a tail almost as long as ours at the Oval against New Zealand in 1999.And England did not back the vice-captain in Harry Brook to take over, leading to poor old Joe Root being given the biggest hospital pass of all time in being asked to lead the side four years after he last did it.Duncan Fletcher would talk about the critical mass of a team when he was England coach. You could make changes, but not five between Tests. You could have a debutant, but not three in the same team. And you could have the odd difficult character, but you need the bulk of the side to set the right tone. England’s critical mass at the Oval was all wrong. New Zealand took full advantage by handing out an absolute drubbing.And it all ended with another example of that lack of attention to detail when England were docked 12 points in the World Test Championship and the players fined 50 per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate. Are they taking that World Test Championship seriously enough?Rob Key and Ben Stokes should not have had to impose a curfew (Philip Brown/Getty Images)The biggest mistakes were made before the match. Yes, Stokes’ late night out, in the context of what went on before, was unacceptable. But when Key and McCullum went straight into the media, they should have backed their captain rather than distancing themselves from him and, in McCullum’s case, just talking about his mental well-being.