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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it could be used as a weapon in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, given 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 "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of focus was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade 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

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, 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.

Going by the coach'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 triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving 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 made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.