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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as McCullum claims to ignore outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with 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 domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Based on McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.