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The England head coach despised the label Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It meant a significant amount of focus was expended before they even stepped out 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 activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was liberating during its initial year, an excellent, apt solution to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.