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The England head coach detested the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing 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 Australian jokes.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, 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 changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of focus was used up before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and 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, as shown by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, 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 results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso performance.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year 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 fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.