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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, 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 claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as McCullum claims to block out external noise, he must have been all too 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 scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by the coach's comments after the match, England look likely to keep the faith 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 floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.