The bad bit about Ollie Pope's dismissal was the crushing inevitability. The worst was, at this juncture, 63 Tests into a seven-year career that has had plenty of stanzas for growth and foresight, only he did not see it coming.
An inevitability that Pope - despite being England's established No.3 in an Ashes series - was always likely to be the first batter to fall, in what turned out to be a collapse of 5 for 38. His missed booming drive off Mitchell Starc, his loft just over cover and the edge that cleared second slip off Brendan Doggett; all were signs he should have heeded. When he bunted his drive back to Michael Neser, there was novelty to be had in Pope's first caught-and-bowled dismissal off a seamer, but it was lost in the certainty that he was not long for this Saturday night at the Gabba. And once he was gone, he certainly wasn't going to be alone.
An innings of 26 of 32, with the pink Kookaburra zipping as it does under floodlights, neatly encapsulates the chaotic nature of Pope's stay, at a time when calm was the order of the day. It was reminiscent of his second go in the first Test at Perth when, having flashed five times, a sixth wild drive brought about his end on 33.
Of all the top seven batters with 500 or more second-innings runs to their name, Pope's average of 20.24 is the fourth worst: a damning statistic ripe for extrapolation, given that questions about Pope's character and stomach had been peddled long before this latest misstep.
Speaking on The Grade Cricketer podcast prior to the series, Mark Waugh stated Pope would not score a run. On Thursday, Waugh, while commentating on Triple M, dismissed Pope as "just a player" moments before the right-hander danced across to the off-side and chopped Mitchell Starc onto his own stumps for a duck.
In the build-up to this series, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum reiterated to the team that the coming weeks were an opportunity to define their legacy. The fact that they (understandably) hid from their players was that Ashes tours can rob you of your dignity and self-worth. Worst still, they can undo whatever goodwill you have with your own fans.
That in itself makes Pope an interesting case study of where we are all are, after just five days of actual cricket. From the moment he called a newly appointed Stokes at the start of the 2022 summer to pitch for the No.3 position, Pope became emblematic of the initial merits of the project and, now, of the flaws that are threatening to bubble over and scald English cricket.
The highs of the 196 in Hyderabad, an impressive assumption of both that first-drop position and trust he'd been given as vice-captain, feel a world away. He had to reinforce his position in the XI with another century against India in June, but has since averaged 27 across 11 innings with a sole half-century. His average at three is heading the wrong way, likewise that number in Australia (17.20) and against them (18.71). And before we'd even reached the end of the English summer, he was removed as Stokes' deputy in favour of Harry Brook.
All of which made Pope more susceptible for the chop, with Jacob Bethell seeming to offer a more attractive proposition to the selectors, who admired the young left-hander's cockiness and crisp shapes. Bethell's disappointing white-ball tour of New Zealand kiboshed that prospect, along with his overall lack of cricket (his first-class best remains the 96 he made against New Zealand last year), while Pope's 100 and 90 at Lilac Hill had seemingly secured his side of the bargain.
Now, that debate may be back on the agenda, and not unreasonably. But perhaps it is important to step back and see the bigger picture. England's dream-weaving over the last three years, while not without merit, has somehow trapped Pope - one of the most popular players in a closed-off dressing room, and the ultimate team man - in a nightmarish web of doubt and technical uncertainty, even while it continues to masquerade as a never-ending pursuit of clarity and a unwavering desire to be assertive.
It is important to state that Pope has spent the last couple of months working hard to correct the flaws that he would never publicly admit. In the first innings at Perth, he was crisp with his straight driving, having overcome a tendency to fall away to the off side, while seemingly ridding himself of his tick outside off stump. Both traits seem to have returned, which does not suggest Pope has been slacking behind the scenes since arriving in Australia, but that the work he's done is not quite ingrained. By the time he's comfortable with his tweaks, he may well be out of the team.
You wonder, also, about what this says about the more serious elements of this England set-up. At his best, Pope is a ball of energy, a shooter who shoots. Amid so much positivity, how has it come to be that he is suddenly anxious? His esteem is wilting like unwatered flowers. His toil is instructive of the contradiction between messaging and methods that always gets murkier in defeat. Commit to your way and stay true. If that fails, commit harder. Be truer.
It may be too late for all this to correct itself: the match situation in this second Test and thus the Ashes itself. There will be deep introspection and, when the worst is confirmed, casualties.
Pope is likely to be one of them, but he should also be seen as a lesson to heed. The biggest advocate for what Stokes and McCullum have created is now one of its more serious problems. The sparkle he once had has been lost. The joy with which he played the game is a distant memory.
Pope arrived on this tour looking to make up for his own torrid time in 2021-22 when - as a bit-part player - he averaged 11.17 and ended up out of the team. Little did he know that, four years later, he'd return as the centre-piece of the top five, as an ambassador of the good work done over the last three years, only for his ordeal to be so much worse.