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Brendon McCullum despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching 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 rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

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

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing 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 Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his belief that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity 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 having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges 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.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar 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 discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.