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Brendon McCullum despised the term Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While he claims to block out external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training 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 used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The frustration now comes in 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 Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by the coach's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.