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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

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

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Based on McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking 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 perfect, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.