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The England head coach detested the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy 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 block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the moment he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron 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 simply maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here 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 leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, apt solution to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a traditional match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is perfect, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.