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The England head coach detested the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, 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 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum says he ignore outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a chance to iron out technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash 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 wasted summer.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares 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 – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. None has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to eradicate the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Based on the coach'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 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 implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having shattered expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.