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Brendon McCullum loathed the term Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised 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 not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.