A heavy defeat in Perth won’t change England’s Ashes approach, with a pink-ball tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI the next stop in their preparation for the Gabba
England coach Brendon McCullum concedes his team’s ultra-aggressive tactics can have ugly consequences at times, but he’s urging fans to keep the faith despite the calamitous result in Perth.
Australia lead 1-0 in the five-match series after routing England by eight wickets inside two days at Perth Stadium.
England were 1-65 in their second innings on Saturday – an overall lead of 105 – before suffering a huge collapse as their Bazball tactics backfired badly.
Travis Head then pounded England’s tired-looking attack on the way to 123 off 83 balls as Australia chased down the 205-run victory target with ease.
The next Test at the Gabba, starting on December 4, is a day-night, pink-ball fixture.
Former Test captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook have urged England to play their frontline side in the upcoming two-day, pink-ball practice match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, starting November 29, instead of using a second XI outfit as originally planned.
McCullum says he will consider his options over the coming days, and he’s also backing opener Zak Crawley to bounce back in Brisbane after the 27-year-old’s pair of ducks in Perth.
England’s attack-at-all-costs mentality in Perth has been widely criticised by some of the nation’s greatest cricket legends, including Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan.
But McCullum is standing firm behind the team’s tactics.
“I’m pretty confident of the way we go about things,” McCullum said.
“The last few years we’ve built a set-up which is connected, it’s tight, and we play a style of cricket that we believe gives us our best chance.
“If we go away from that, then we’re in trouble.
“There’s no point trying to play for safety per se. We’ve just got to keep backing our approach and be strong, and keep believing in what we’re doing. That will give us the best chance to bounce back.”
McCullum is embracing the pressure that’s been directed his way.
“This is the fun stuff, right?” he said.
“When you’re under the bat and things haven’t quite worked out, that’s when your methods are tested at their best, when you’ve got to stay calm as a leader, keep plotting the path and the way forward, and eyes on the prize and try to block out some of the doubts and the insecurities that can creep in.
“Because if that does happen, you literally have no chance. That’s my belief as a coach and that’s the captain’s belief too.”
McCullum’s message to the fans was simple.
“I’d say keep the faith,” he said.
“We know what our best game is, what gives us our greatest opportunity.
“We’ve been in this situation before … we played South Africa and lost in two days that first Test and came back and won that series 2-1.
“Sometimes, we get beaten and it looks pretty ugly, but there are times when having that type of mentality allows us to be able to shift … allows us to still believe in our abilities when we step out to play.
“Just because we are one down in the series doesn’t change what we believe in. We have to stay calm, stay together, and plot our way back into this series, as we have done before.”
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia win by eight wickets
Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (first Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood
