The Ashes 2025-26: Brendon McCullum wants to stay as England coach
“I’ve enjoyed my time with these guys and we’ve made some progress since I took over to where we are,” he said.
“We’re not finished but we’ve definitely improved as a cricket team. We had an identity about ourselves.
“Now it’s time for us to really show that identity in the last two Tests and try to salvage something from it.”
The defeat in Adelaide extended England’s winless run in Tests in Australia to 18 matches. They haven’t won a series in this country since 2010-11.
Falling 3-0 behind once again after three matches, the team had to deal with the indignity of a clean 5-0 victory. Three England teams have previously lost the Ashes series 5-0 in Australia.
England can beat Ollie Pope for the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where crowds are expected to reach 100,000. Jacob Bethell is the reserve batsman for the tourist team.
If England renew their pace attack, Brydon Carse looks the most likely candidate to be left out.
The visitors also have the decision to replace Shoaib Bashir, who returned to Australia as their first choice but did not feature in the first three Tests.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is playing T20 cricket in the Big Bash in Australia, but McCullum said he would not look outside his 16-man squad for reinforcements.
“I don’t think we’re going to bring anyone in from outside,” he said. “We’ll have to look at what the conditions are in Melbourne and decide which team will be our best for those conditions and competition.”
After the second Test defeat in Brisbane, McCullum said his team could not have a “glass jaw” while captain Stokes said Australia had “no room for weak men”.
Later, ahead of the third Test in Adelaide, Stokes admitted he had “raw” conversations with England players about his message.
However, opener Zak Crawley later claimed he was unaware of the “weak men” comments.
When McCullum was asked if players still trusted his method, he replied: “I hope so. You’ll have to ask them.”
“I will always have my players’ back, I will always support them and I will always make sure that I protect them in a public forum as well.
“That doesn’t mean you won’t be challenged in private, but in a public forum you’re always protective. I guess you’ll have to ask those questions elsewhere, but I can’t imagine anything will change in the coming days as we try to salvage something from this.”
