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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball since it was coined, considering it overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish 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 dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he block out outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. 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 did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with no guarantee, as shown by England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, 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 performance.

Based on the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.