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The England head coach detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.