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The England head coach detested the term Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (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 county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Based on McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual day-night format now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.