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The England head coach loathed the term Bazball from its inception, viewing it as overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum says he block out outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its initial year, an excellent, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.