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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 weaponised in the future. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching 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 attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum says he 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 scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, 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

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure work that mainly keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and 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, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. It is not only with the batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence 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 effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Focus and Selection Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Based on McCullum's comments in the aftermath, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight.