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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball from its inception, deeming it reductive and maybe anticipating how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Selection Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.