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Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. While he claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form taper off to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by the coach's words after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.