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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides 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 in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen results decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.