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The England head coach detested the term Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

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

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

The Question of Readiness and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of focus was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (with no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

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