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The England head coach despised the label Bazball from its inception, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has not helped himself either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was akin to trying to put out a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to block out external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is more nuanced. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that less is more. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reactions quick.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, as shown by England playing three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's unproductive season.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is in this area where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

McCullum's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that initial phase – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Selection Dilemmas

Among them is the wicketkeeper-batter, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and missed two crucial opportunities as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.

Based on the coach's words in the aftermath, 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.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the series win in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. A young contender made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's better fundamentals having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.