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Brendon McCullum loathed the moniker Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum claims to block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. 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, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface 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 last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.