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The England head coach detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised in the future. 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 gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to block out outside criticism, he will have been acutely 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 necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed solution to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, 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 counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

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