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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It could become 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. As much as McCullum says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by the coach's comments 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 triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.