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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as overly simplistic and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not improve.

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

The reality, 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. 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 different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he blinked in his belief that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that pre-series state games were not possible (with uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, apt remedy to eradicate the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful display.

Based on the coach's words after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – 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 in the past.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active No. 5 or 6, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.