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The England head coach loathed the moniker Bazball since it was coined, viewing it as reductive and perhaps anticipating how it could be weaponised in the future. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that started with great expectations, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However the coach has not helped himself either. After the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' prior to the day-night Test was akin to attempting to extinguish a rubbish fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

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

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their opponents and they practice equally hard. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days to Australia's three, given their limited experience to the pink ball and the different lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the instance he wavered in his belief that less is more. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that simply maintains the reflexes sharp.

Fixtures are congested such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the dismissal of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Strategic Stagnation

Only playing prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the bat – harrowing as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems leaderless. No bowler has shown the persistence or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.

McCullum's free-spirit approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, apt solution to shake off the lethargy that came before. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen form decline to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Player Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, Alex Carey, has just produced a masterful performance.

Based on the coach's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a switch to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unfamiliar day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or maybe an all-rounder could fulfil a similar role to the former spinner in 2023.

In the end, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and pushed the team's entire approach into the spotlight.