The Ashes 2025-26: England beaten in Sydney to give Australia 4-1 win
This was supposed to be the biggest triumph of the Bazball project, which England had been working on for 18 months and which McCullum said could “define” his team.
Ultimately they were described as just another England team defeated in Australia. This was the fourth consecutive Ashes tour in which England lost at least four Tests.
England’s record in this country this century alone was 27 defeats in 35 matches. Three of the five Test wins in that period came in a stunning victory in 2010-11; It is the only series England have won here in the last 40 years.
The players England backed for this tour faded. Ollie Pope played three Tests before being dropped, the previously successful opening partnership of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett collapsed and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was a shadow of his best.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir, who left for this tour over a year ago, did not play in the Test.
As always in the Ashes tour, there were injuries in England. Mark Wood may never play for England again after returning home with a knee problem and Jofra Archer’s impressive tour ended with a side strain in the third Test. Gus Atkinson has been ruled out of Sydney due to a hamstring problem.
While pace bowler Josh Tongue emerged with his reputation on the rise, Jacob Bethell’s coming-of-age century in the last Test was a belated glimmer of hope. I wish England had supported Bethell months ago.
Joe Root eventually provided England’s best moment of the tour by scoring a Test hundred in Australia, but it was another Ashes tour with Root and Stokes – England’s two great players – on the wrong end of a blow. Root may get another opportunity in four years’ time, but Stokes almost certainly won’t.
Stokes backed McCullum, who was also openly supported by Key. While this management is not the only one to have presided over unsuccessful England Ashes tours, much of the scrutiny stems from issues and issues that could have been avoided.
England have selected a squad that leaves them with little option if things go wrong and have prepared their players in very different conditions to those they faced in the Tests.
Not only were the visitors ill-equipped for the challenges they faced on the field, but they also appeared surprised by the hostile attention they received from the Australian media, especially at the start of the tour.
In Perth, England, players were tracked to golf courses and even an aquarium. They were photographed riding an escooter without a helmet in Brisbane; this was an offense punishable by a fine under Queensland law. While preparing to fly out of Brisbane airport, a member of the UK security team got into an argument with a TV cameraman.
The flight to Brisbane came at the end of England’s infamous holiday in Noosa; here the time some players spent drinking was investigated by Key. The images of England players on the beach and in bars will be as permanent as what happens on the pitch.
