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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball from its inception, deeming it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he must have been all too 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. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

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 return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

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