The England head coach despised the moniker Bazball the moment it emerged, considering it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be used as a weapon down the line. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with great expectations, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.
But McCullum has contributed to the problem either. After the gut-wrenching defeat at the Gabba, his claim that, if anything, England were 'over-prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with gasoline. It could become his lasting legacy as national coach if results do not improve.
On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he must have been acutely aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.
The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks 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 ball and the different seeing conditions.
The Question of Readiness and Training
McCullum's point about being "excessively ready" was that those additional training days were his call – the moment he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It meant a Test match's worth of focus was expended before they even stepped out in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. While nets are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a safety blanket; zero consequence work that mainly keeps the reactions quick.
Schedules 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). More difficult to justify is the dismissal of county championship cricket as a valuable experience more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.
Match Shortcomings and Philosophical Stagnation
Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they walk out to face, and it is here where England have so far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the persistence or control that the exceptional Australian paceman and his support cast have delivered.
The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from 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 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.
Squad Spotlight and Selection Decisions
Among them is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful display.
Going by McCullum's words after the match, England look likely to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The hope – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar match environment triggers his top form, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now in the past.
Another option is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting the batsman down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or perhaps Will Jacks could perform a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.
In the end, none of this is perfect, with Australia's better fundamentals having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the harsh glare of scrutiny.
