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The England head coach detested the term Bazball from its inception, viewing it as reductive and perhaps anticipating how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 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 not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

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 less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (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 dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the lethargy that preceded it. 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 Spotlight and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by 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 return to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a busy middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.