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The England head coach despised the label Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to block out external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience 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 decision – the moment he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.