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The England head coach detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. 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 says he ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Practice

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, 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 decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an upgrade to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Based on McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.