Published: Dec 14, 2025, 03:59 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 14, 2025, 03:59 PM (IST)
England coach Brendon McCullum stated that the visitors’ Bazball strategy will not change despite losing the second Test last week and falling behind 2-0 in the ongoing Ashes series. He also expressed his expectation of improved performance from his players.
“We came here with high hopes and high expectations. We had a plan that we felt was going to give ourselves the best chance of being successful. We haven’t quite executed that so far, and Australia has seized those key moments and hence they sit 2-0 up. It doesn’t mean that we throw that plan out. We just need to chisel away at some of the things we haven’t got quite right and make sure that we still have that conviction of what we’re trying to achieve. I think these conditions should suit our style a little bit better as well … this is probably more attuned to our best style of cricket,†McCullum told reporters at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
England’s hopes of regaining the Ashes will be dashed if they lose the third Test of the series, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at the Adelaide Oval.
“We’ve had a top seven now for a period of time, and we’ve been reasonably successful with it,†McCullum said.
“We know we haven’t got enough runs so far in the series … but for us to go on and win the series, it’s not about throwing out what’s been successful. It’s about having more conviction. It’s about making sure that we have our plans and our disciplines around it. Just screw it down a touch more. Knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing settled batting line-ups is not really our thing.â€
After England lost by eight wickets in Perth and inside four days in Brisbane, the former Kiwi batsman has come under fire for his aggressive style of play.
Although a few of England’s batters have struggled for runs in Australia, McCullum said it was extremely unlikely that Adelaide would see a complete line-up change.
