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The England head coach despised the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his epitaph as national coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. As much as he says he block out outside criticism, he must have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of focus was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (with no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing hardens cricketers for the many situations they walk out to face, and it is in this area where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that initial phase – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to an even record from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just delivered a virtuoso performance.

Going by the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the broader philosophy into the spotlight.