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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 away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

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

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by the coach's comments after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.