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Brendon McCullum accepts Bazball is dead; England coach to face serious consequences

Anurag Dasgupta

McCullum accepts Bazball defeat [Source: AFP Photo] McCullum accepts Bazball defeat [Source: AFP Photo]

England came into the Ashes against Australia with loads of confidence as their media even labelled the home side as “one of the weakest Australian teams ever.” However, the visiting England side couldn’t capitalise and were thrashed 1-4, and that too with several Australian players missing in the main team.

The Aussies were without their regular skipper Pat Cummins (for four Tests), and Josh Hazlewood for the entire series, and despite a depleted bowling attack, the Australian side inflicted a heavy defeat as England lost their fourth successive Ashes tour Down Under.

McCullum accepts defeat as adamant England coach ready for change

The Three Lions lost the first three Tests as the Ashes was surrendered, and despite the loss, England's head coach was full of praise for his ultra-aggressive Bazball style of play. However, after the crushing defeat at the SCG to end the tour, McCullum had a change of thought as he accepted defeat, and believed that he needed to tweak the tactics if he wanted to continue to be the head coach.

"I'm all for progress and evolution in all sports," McCullum told the BBC's Test Match Special. "From my point of view, I have firm beliefs in what works and some areas where you want to keep improving, and some areas where you think you can evolve.

"But at the same time, I'm not pig-headed [enough] to think there's not some areas that we can improve on, and once we digest what's unfolded over the last two months and start to plot and plan a way forward, if you're the man in the chair to do so then you do so with a similar conviction in your methods - albeit with a couple of tweaks."

England's poor Test run under Brendon McCullum

McCullum was appointed the England Test coach in 2022, and in the three-and-a-half-year period, England’s playing style has drastically changed, but the results have not.

The team failed to beat the Australian side at home in the 2023 Ashes, and they also lost 1-4 against India in 2024. Moreover, against a depleted Indian team, the Three Lions failed to deliver the goods as the series ended 2-2.

There was a lot of expectations from the team in the recently concluded Ashes as Australia had an ageing and an injury-prone squad, but the Ben Stokes-led side failed once again as England have lost yet another high-profile series under the Stokes-McCullum reign.

As a result, the head coach could face serious consequences as ECB is set to have a high-profile meeting with him.