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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be weaponised in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he ignore external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's comments after the match, England look likely to persist 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 bouncy pitch and the unusual day-night format now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell made some 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, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.