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Brendon McCullum detested the moniker Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

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

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he says he block out external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, 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, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was used up 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; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

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

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.