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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started 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 anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender 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 perfect, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.