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The England head coach despised the term Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he says he ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

McCullum'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 intensity of Australia's stronghold. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. 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 persistence or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Selection Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.