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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph 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 says he ignore external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. 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 different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only 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.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar 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 the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.