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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps anticipating how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that mainly maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and no guarantee, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has shown the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have delivered.

McCullum's unconventional outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the original software that has seen results decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Selection Decisions

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested 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 performance.

Going by McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a busy No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.