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Brendon McCullum despised the label Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to ignore outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations 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 – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.