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The England head coach detested the term Bazball from its inception, considering it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy 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 external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, 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 valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Team Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.