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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, 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 increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly 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 last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.