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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and uncertain value, 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, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted 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 masterful performance.

Going by the coach's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – 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 enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.