With Ben Stokes heading home to County Durham and Brendon McCullum heading to his farm on New Zealand’s north island, the reality of leading England’s Test team has undoubtedly set in.
The Bazball project is at a critical juncture and England are currently the better team but are falling short against the best teams. Following the 4-1 defeat in India, both Stokes and McCullum admitted that they had to move away from the positive scenario and assess the situation and make changes both in terms of mentality and personnel.
McCullum is halfway through his four-year term. He has started 23 matches and has 23 more left if he completes his contract, which expires after the fifth Ashes Test in Australia in early 2026. England have won 14 of the 23 Tests played so far; This is a record. You look very smart after six defeats in 10 Tests against Australia and India.
The worry this tour is that England will slide into a slump reminiscent of the last three series in Australia. McCullum has never played a five-Test series, so he is learning how to deal with long assignments on the road, and in India he witnessed how previously overconfident players were dragged into self-doubt and complex thinking for the first time.
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McCullum and Stokes are tired after seven grueling weeks but remain strongly committed to their work. They are three months away from playing Test cricket again, with the benefit of splitting the captaincy and coaching model, so there is plenty of time to digest what went wrong and identify people who need to be sacked.
With their purposeful, aggressive style, they’re definitely on to something. If matches are to be closed, some tact and cleverness is required. Giving away winning positions in Rajkot and Ranchi cost them this series. The one-run defeat in New Zealand was a freak game but England allowed their opponents to get back in by declaring it when Joe Root had a hundred to score. Against Australia, the rush to bleed into the short-ball tactic at Lord’s might have been considered naive as the team came into play at the time, but it was repeated in a similar situation at Rajkot with Root’s reverse ramp when Ravichandran Ashwin was withdrawn. of the match. They need to be more ruthless in their selection, treading the fine line between consistency and keeping players on their toes. James Anderson has played eight of 10 Tests in the last two series, at least two too many, and the first six are starting to look like a closed shop in India, with reserve batsman Dan Lawrence not once taken seriously.
“While we’re both very relaxed and happy to make sure everyone is having fun and not being so anxious, let’s not make the mistake that we don’t have that to our drastic advantage,” McCullum said. “We haven’t gotten to where we are in life and in our careers without some challenges, and for us, that’s what we consider contribution, enthusiasm, energy and always giving to the team and wanting to improve as a player. If guys are doing that, they’re going to get a lot of support. If they’re not doing that, they’re going to have some tough conversations and “We will not hesitate to have these conversations.”
England should aim to make a statement by winning 6-0 against the West Indies and Sri Lanka while giving opportunities to new bowlers as confidence in Anderson is soon to end and there is no suitable opportunity to give games to young players ahead of the Ashes tour. Backup planning needs to be put in place.
Messages from outside also need to be toned down and being a little more honest about situations wouldn’t go amiss because constant positivity gets noticed very quickly in England. Ben Duckett’s comments that Yashasvi Jaiswal had learned from watching Bazball and that England wanted to chase “more” more runs in Rajkot were symbolic. It wasn’t necessarily arrogance, it was just a player taking Bazball’s absolutism to the extreme, but that’s no longer necessary. The mentality is now ingrained in the players. There may be deviations sometimes and don’t worry about being a little more real and sincere.
“It’s good to believe deep down in what you can achieve, but sometimes be a little smarter about how we say things,” McCullum admitted. “But it’s the people who grew up in this environment, right? They are not yet finished articles and should never be hanged just because a positive comment was made in the media that could be perceived as arrogance. “It’s not arrogance, it’s just trust in the group.”
The only positive is the return of all-rounder Stokes. He is very important for the balance of the team and how he can lift everyone with bat and ball. He was almost caught up in playing the big innings in India, forgetting to let go as he knew he couldn’t contribute with the ball. His knee injury appears to have healed better than expected and he has given himself the best chance of staying fit for the summer by missing the Indian Premier League.
“He is a world-class all-rounder and his impact in just the five overs he bowled in this match showed what he can do. He can sometimes do things that others can’t and he’s got a maverick streak about him,” McCullum said. “Getting him back to full working order has been a huge positive for us after this journey and moving forward it lets us know we can balance the team properly and he’ll be fire with bat and ball It increases our power. Face good opposition.”