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Brendon McCullum despised the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After 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 akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not improve.

In a way, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he says he block out outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence activity that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

One such player 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 as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.