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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals 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 different lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (with no guarantee, when you consider England having played 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 more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment 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 results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.