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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with 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 valuable experience in general, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have so 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 leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.