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Brendon McCullum loathed the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out 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 more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

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 so far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – 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 exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player 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 masterful performance.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

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