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The England head coach despised the label Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it could be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to block out external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Selection Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, 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 counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.