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Brendon McCullum loathed the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While he claims to block out outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of focus was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with no guarantee, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. 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 match environment 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 discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

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