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The England head coach despised the label Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and maybe anticipating how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was liberating during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.