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Brendon McCullum detested the moniker Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with uncertain value, as shown by 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 worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful display.

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

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some 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, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.