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Brendon McCullum despised the term Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. 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 changes in seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with uncertain value, 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 worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across 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, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.