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The England head coach despised the term Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be weaponised down the line. Currently, trailing 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish 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 dedication to the philosophy. While he says he ignore outside criticism, he must have been acutely aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a chance to iron out skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence activity that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

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 – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a virtuoso display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a traditional Test setting triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. A young contender made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.