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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While he says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of focus was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful performance.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.