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The England head coach detested the term Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if there was an issue, England were 'over-prepared' before the pink-ball match was like trying to put out a bin fire with gasoline. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum claims to ignore outside criticism, he will have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The reality, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their rivals and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in seeing conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a Test match's worth of mental energy was expended before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to iron out technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and no guarantee, 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 in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Only playing prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is in this area where England have so far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or discipline that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional outlook was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt remedy to eradicate the torpor that came before. The disappointment now comes in how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an second phase to the original software that has seen results decline to an even record from their last 30 Tests.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Based on McCullum's comments after the match, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unfamiliar day-night format now in the past.

The alternative is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, handing him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

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