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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised in the future. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. While he claims to block out outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation.

The truth, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of focus was used up 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 safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing 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 batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Going by the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.