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Brendon McCullum loathed the term Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described 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. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even stepped out 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 mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have so 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 without a spearhead. None has shown the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.