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Brendon McCullum despised the term Bazball from its inception, deeming it overly simplistic and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance 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 stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area 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 bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set 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 best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.