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Brendon McCullum loathed the moniker Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph 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 block out external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games 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 dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens 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 bat – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy 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 upgrade to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

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