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The England head coach loathed the term Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and maybe foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. Following the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, one must admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum claims to block out external noise, he will have been acutely aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his decision – the instance he blinked in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. While net practice are a chance to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (with uncertain value, as shown by 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 worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone hardens cricketers for the various scenarios 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 shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or control that the otherworldly Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt solution to eradicate the torpor that came before. The frustration now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful display.

Going by McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across 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 fresh face at first drop. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.