Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.
But McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.
In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.
The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.
The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.
Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.
Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.
McCullum's free-spirit approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.
One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful performance.
Going by the coach's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar 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 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 wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.
Ultimately, none of this is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.
