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The England head coach detested the moniker Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and maybe foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was like attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not take an upturn.

On one level, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. As much as McCullum says he ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised 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 opponents and they practice equally hard. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the instance he blinked in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider 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 worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Match practice alone hardens 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 – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has demonstrated the persistence or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was liberating during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed solution to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now comes in how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – the lack of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Dilemmas

Among them is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your counterpart, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful display.

Going by McCullum's words after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment unleashes his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

The alternative is to implement the plan stumbled across during the series win in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting Ollie Pope down to his preferred position as a active middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a fresh face at first drop. Bethell made some runs for the Lions recently, or perhaps Will Jacks could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.