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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But the coach 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 trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant 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 net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.