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The England head coach despised the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he block out outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, 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, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual 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 the batsman down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.