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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

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

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by the coach'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 traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option 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 busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.