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Brendon McCullum detested the moniker Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem 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 bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf 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, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional match environment unleashes his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.