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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and maybe anticipating how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy 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 he says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

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 Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and no guarantee, when you consider England having played 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 a young player's wasted summer.

Match 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 so far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt remedy to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum'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 traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.