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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After 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 rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, 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 trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past 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.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Based on McCullum's comments after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.