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The England head coach detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

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

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks 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 lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by the coach'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 unleashes his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.