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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he ignore external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's unconventional approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the torpor that came before. 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 taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored 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, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.