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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Based on the coach's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to persist 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 day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative 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 gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.