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Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, 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 leaderless. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.