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The England head coach despised the term Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he claims to ignore outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days compared to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though nets are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed solution to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Based on the coach's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.