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Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball from its inception, considering it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so 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. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.