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The England head coach despised the term Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum claims to block out outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown 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 here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's comments in the aftermath, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a traditional match environment triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option 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 active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored 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, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.