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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball since it was coined, considering it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Currently, 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 the coach has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

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

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" 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 mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (with uncertain value, as shown by England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's comments after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.