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Brendon McCullum despised the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised 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, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios 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 shot selection has been – but an 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 free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.