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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, considering it overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in 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 moment he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of focus was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by the coach's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.