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The England head coach despised the term Bazball since it was coined, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised in the future. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area 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 leaderless. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps 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 pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.