The scars of Ashes 2025-26 will hurt England, but they need to pull their socks up. England is about to play 3 Test match series against New Zealand starting from June 4. It’s the same opposition that they had faced in 2022 as ‘Bazball’ was unleashed and they buried the mighty Kiwis by 3-0 and started a new chapter in the history of English cricket.
ECB again finds itself in a spot of bother even after 4 years. The drinking reports of English players, and not to forget about the Bouncer Altercation incident of Harry Brook in New Zealand just before the 3rd ODI match. A thorough review is going on, which will give us clear idea of what the future holds for Brendon McCullum & Ben Stokes, who have had a mixed bag in 4 years in red ball cricket.
Ashes 2025-26 debacle for ECB & defeats in overseas Tests
England cricket team once again has found itself at the receiving end. The Ashes 2025-26 was no less than a disaster for England, who lost the series by 1-4. The ideology of Brendon McCullum, which is often termed as ‘Bazball’ is exposed very brutally. Ashes defeat is not only a wake-up call for the ECB but a harsh reality of how England plays in overseas Test matches.
England lost a Test series in India by 1-4 & in Pakistan by 1-2 in the same year 2024. Bazball, though, was successful in Pakistan in the 2022 Test series where they white washed Test series by 3-0, but those pitches were quite flat under the regime of former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja. Even Sir Geoffrey Boycott has termed England as flat-track bullies, which is quite a harsh statement but somewhat true as well.
A lot of English cricket experts were quite optimistic that England could end the drought of 15 years of winning the Ashes in Australia. The batters were in a hurry to play ultra-positive cricket. The lone warrior Joe Root broke his century drought in Australia, but that wasn’t enough. Winning in Australia is quite arduos task as the batters need to toil the bowlers, which was missing.
Tough calls for ECB?
Brendon McCullum has candidly & boldy has made it clear that he won’t listen to the ECB. Infact Baz mentioned the head coach post as a gig to travel the world and coach players. It’s quite baffling to see how Baz has got such a long rope. Brendon McCullum was appointed in 2022, and his tenure lasted until the 2025 Ashes, but he got an extension till the 2027 ODI WC, as now he coaches all 3 formats since the 2025 India white ball series.
It’s quite clear that Baz has the support of Ben Stokes & Director Rob Key. England, under the coaching of Brendon McCullum have won 25 matches and lost 17 out of 44 Test matches. If we look at the wins, England whitewashed West Indies in 2024 by 3-0, a team that is still in transition and learning, won 2-1 in 2024 against Sri Lanka, a side that bounced back, but still not a powerful force.
If we look at the overseas wins, then they have won 3 Tests in New Zealand out of 5 and only 5 in India & Pakistan out of 13. There’s no doubt that they defeated a sturdy South African team by 2-1 in 2022, but there’s nothing glorious to show. Baz would point out that they squared both the series against India & Australia by 2-2 in 2023 & 2025, but England hasn’t won the Ashes since 2015, which is not a great stat.
The sudden resignation of national selector Luke Wright is confusing. He has been in the role since 2022 and cited that he wants to spend time with his family. Perhaps, it’s a sign that wholesale changes are on the cards. England didn’t even play a single tour match against Australia’s PM XI as they wanted to play golf and they went to Nossa when there was more than a week’s gap before the 3rd Test match against the Aussies.
England’s culture in danger?
Harry Brook, while interacting with the BBC, openly admitted that players can have a drink when they want. Harry Brook was quite honest about the New Zealand Bar incident with Bouncer but there was no suspension by the ECB as they claimed that they dealt with it. Harry Brook, though, faced a penalty of 30,000 Pounds.
We can somewhat say that the core of players, including juniors and seniors, have a good camaraderie with Brendon McCullum. Even Michael Clarke said that if such a drinking incident or bar thing had happened, then a suspension would have been there in Australia. We all know the ugly fight of Joe Root & David Warner in 2013 in bar during ICC CT 2013 as Warner punched him into the face and then he was suspended immediately.
If we look at the previous English skippers, Alastair Cook & Michael Vaughan, who had the discipline and an aura. Perhaps it’s time that Cook should be a part of the coaching staff, as reports have come that he would be an assistant coach and work along with Marcus Trescothick or replace him. But Cook has refuted the reports, but there might be talks going on.
It’s quite puzzling to see how much power the ECB has given to Baz, as he has his say in selection as well. Many England fans would argue that England started winning due to Baz & Stokes but we should not forget that Joe Root built the team as he won 27 matches in 64 and lost 26 from 2017 to April 2022 as the team at that time was in a transition phase but still they competed in overseas as their major overseas achievement was beating Sri Lanka by 2-0 in Sri Lanka in 2021 on rank turners.
What lies ahead for Baz & ECB
England’s Test home summer of 2026 is not a steep one that much. They will play 6 Tests total, 3 a piece against New Zealand & Pakistan. They though have a stern test against South Africa in September in South Africa, where they will play 3 Tests.
New Zealand haven’t won a 3 Test match series in England since 1999, which they had won by 2-1. New Zealand, though in 2021 had won by 1-0, but it was a 2 Test match and a series organized separately by both ECB & NZC.
If we look at Pakistan, then their last triumph in England was way back in 1996, which they won by 2-0 in a 3 Test match series. Both Pakistan & New Zealand aren’t that homongous threat for Baz & Stokes. Suppose England win 5 out of 6 Test matches, then the Ashes debacle would be forgotten within the blink of an eye. ECB, as we all know, makes a lot of flat tracks as bowlers have to toil a lot, as we see easily 300+ scores from Day 1
With England recently won 1st T20I against Sri Lanka, the side seems to be gelling quite nicely with Sam Curran‘s hat-trick. We should not forget that England won the ODI series as well by 2-1. We saw a different version of Harry Brook, who played positive cricket and capitalized on loose deliveries in his valiant ton in the 3rd ODI. Harry Brook is under the pump as now his every knock and movement is tracked & analyzed by the media.
Even if England doesn’t win the ICC T20 WC 2026, which is just a week away, Baz’s job won’t be under threat as there’s a new white-ball captain in the form of Harry Brook. The question now for the ECB is whether they still allow Baz to work on his terminology of Bazball of playing fearless cricket, or go back to traditional cricket, as wholesale changes can wreck the team, but a change in mindset can do wonders. England is in 7th position in the ICC WTC 2025-27 with 31.67%, and in ODIs, they are in 8th position, not an ideal place of ranking for the creators of the game. Though England is in 3rd position in ICC rankings in T20Is.
Clock is ticking for the ECB, which finds itself in a dilemna. Rob Key was pivotal in the appointment of Baz in 2022 as the situation looks quite intricate for Key & Baz who have taken the team ahead but it’s still not a team which will thrive in all conditions which is ultimate. It would be tough for ECB to sack Baz given he has backing of players and coaching staff as it was his recommendation that Tim Southee was appointed fast bowling coach and he pipped the legend James Anderson. Fascinating couple of months for England cricket team fans with ICC T20 WC 2026 as a silverware can bring back joy but deep down the line the question is can ECB go against Baz who has sounded a bit arrogant and adamant?
Also Read:Â Ashes 2025-26: 3 Reasons For England’s Crushing Defeat In 5th Test