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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and maybe anticipating how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

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

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.