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The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, viewing it as reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if performances do not improve.

On one level, one must admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to ignore external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England team often described as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their necessary down time as their opponents and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Debate of Readiness and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the intensity of Australia's stronghold. And though net practice are a opportunity to iron out skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence work that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (with uncertain value, when you consider England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, evidenced by a young player's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Stagnation

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 batting – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems without a spearhead. None has shown the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his teammates have displayed.

The coach's free-spirit outlook was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment 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 form taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Team Decisions

Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, undoubtedly, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on each side of the bat and has dropped two key chances as wicketkeeper. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's comments after the match, England look likely to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a switch to a traditional Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

Another option is to implement the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by shifting 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 maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a comparable function to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.