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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as national 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 must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

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

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise in general, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

Match Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing 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 bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's free-spirit approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form decline to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Based on the coach's comments after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a traditional Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.