Every delivery in a game is batter and bowler asking a question of each other, with fielders and match situation in the background. England seem to have decided that the philosophy comes ahead of everything else. They haven't learned to adapt to match conditions like good sides do. Australia, India and NZ adapt as the game develops.
Aside from the shameful leadership and self-indulgence of that 4th day evening session, the broader picture is bleak. There are no obvious candidates for skipper, no long-term replacements for Stokes, Broad and Anderson, and a governing body that has literally sold off the best month of the year and in spite of the 100 riches refuses to rescue clubs who don’t have significant alternative revenue sources. Dark days.
England just lost their minds on Sunday afternoon.
It was childish, impetuous and uncomfortable viewing.
I personally feel that we need wholesale changes from the top downwards. I very rarely agree with Vaughan, however his view on needing a first class coach and NOT promoting Brook was spot on for me.
Key and McCullum really should have gone 6 months ago. Not because we lost the Ashes, with one notable exception we’ve done that for 40 years, but because they got every decision relating to that tour horribly wrong. Now the wheels have well and truly fallen off and I don’t believe they have the ability or desire to change their methods sufficiently to turn things around.
The team now needs a complete reset similar to the Hussain/Fletcher partnership 25 years ago. It shouldn’t be rocket science, there’s talent in that dressing room and around the counties. There needs to be structure, focus, discipline, responsibility and accountability. There’ll be coaches around who can provide that, the captaincy is more of a problem however.
‘ Shameful leadership and self indulgence ‘ as mentioned by Mr Andrew Hall above , and putting himself above the game that made him a household name was Stokes’ final act . A show of mindless self aggrandisement and ego .. Ben Stokes should be ashamed of what he subjected 10 other team-mates to AND be aware of the fact that they were probably too much in shock to bring him back to reality .
I’m an Indian in Mumbai but closely followed the 2024 England tour of India . Pope with an innings of a lifetime and Hartley bowling his most lethal spell ever ( where is he now ? ) effected an amazing narrow win in the first test of the series on a turning track . . That match led me to believe Bazball was for real .
But the subsequent 4 defeats ( one by an innings and another by over 400 runs ) made me change my mind ! On sporting but hardly tricky wickets the English bowlers tried hard but could not make an impact and the batting fell away to seam and spin alike ! Also the alarming fall-off of Stokes’ batting was the precursor to his extended run of poor scores which carried on till his final test match . A giant of a complete all-rounder had commenced his steady decline into a terrific whole-hearted bowler who was almost always unable to display decent batsmanship and was unworthy of batting at six in the team he captained .
The running-into-the-fire batting methodology preached by McCullum was successful on flat batting tracks but was now exposed for what it was … not a template for test cricket against teams playing ‘ the real thing ! ‘
It came as no surprise that England could not win a home home series against a fairly average Indian team in transition in 2025 , got thrashed by a severely depleted bowling attack in the 2025/26 Ashes and were beaten at home by another threadbare New Zealand attack this week .
On and off-field discipline , common sense , a balanced low-key off field presence , reliable responses to opposition pressure and adapting cricketing nous applicable to the situation of the game are just five elements lacking in the team’s structure . A captain who eventually made HIS bravado-laden presence bigger than the game itself was the final unravelling factor . The continuance with Key and McCullum after the Ashes was to me a clear indication that English cricket perpetuates its poor ways with no desire to mend them .
Grim is the only word I can think of. McCullum is sounding increasingly detached from reality in his endless pressers. He talks about improvement, learnings and then states that the opposition was better and, uh, wadda gonna do? It's so frustrating. I think Micky Arthur is the front runner but wouldn't mind Justin Langer.
True, that's why I think Langer would be good. He can fall back into media afterwards, and watching him on teev during the Ashes he seemed to be auditioning for the job at times. Anyway, clean broom is needed at any rate.
Every delivery in a game is batter and bowler asking a question of each other, with fielders and match situation in the background. England seem to have decided that the philosophy comes ahead of everything else. They haven't learned to adapt to match conditions like good sides do. Australia, India and NZ adapt as the game develops.
Aside from the shameful leadership and self-indulgence of that 4th day evening session, the broader picture is bleak. There are no obvious candidates for skipper, no long-term replacements for Stokes, Broad and Anderson, and a governing body that has literally sold off the best month of the year and in spite of the 100 riches refuses to rescue clubs who don’t have significant alternative revenue sources. Dark days.
It’s a mess for sure.
You have summed it up perfectly.
England just lost their minds on Sunday afternoon.
It was childish, impetuous and uncomfortable viewing.
I personally feel that we need wholesale changes from the top downwards. I very rarely agree with Vaughan, however his view on needing a first class coach and NOT promoting Brook was spot on for me.
Key and McCullum really should have gone 6 months ago. Not because we lost the Ashes, with one notable exception we’ve done that for 40 years, but because they got every decision relating to that tour horribly wrong. Now the wheels have well and truly fallen off and I don’t believe they have the ability or desire to change their methods sufficiently to turn things around.
The team now needs a complete reset similar to the Hussain/Fletcher partnership 25 years ago. It shouldn’t be rocket science, there’s talent in that dressing room and around the counties. There needs to be structure, focus, discipline, responsibility and accountability. There’ll be coaches around who can provide that, the captaincy is more of a problem however.
‘ Shameful leadership and self indulgence ‘ as mentioned by Mr Andrew Hall above , and putting himself above the game that made him a household name was Stokes’ final act . A show of mindless self aggrandisement and ego .. Ben Stokes should be ashamed of what he subjected 10 other team-mates to AND be aware of the fact that they were probably too much in shock to bring him back to reality .
I’m an Indian in Mumbai but closely followed the 2024 England tour of India . Pope with an innings of a lifetime and Hartley bowling his most lethal spell ever ( where is he now ? ) effected an amazing narrow win in the first test of the series on a turning track . . That match led me to believe Bazball was for real .
But the subsequent 4 defeats ( one by an innings and another by over 400 runs ) made me change my mind ! On sporting but hardly tricky wickets the English bowlers tried hard but could not make an impact and the batting fell away to seam and spin alike ! Also the alarming fall-off of Stokes’ batting was the precursor to his extended run of poor scores which carried on till his final test match . A giant of a complete all-rounder had commenced his steady decline into a terrific whole-hearted bowler who was almost always unable to display decent batsmanship and was unworthy of batting at six in the team he captained .
The running-into-the-fire batting methodology preached by McCullum was successful on flat batting tracks but was now exposed for what it was … not a template for test cricket against teams playing ‘ the real thing ! ‘
It came as no surprise that England could not win a home home series against a fairly average Indian team in transition in 2025 , got thrashed by a severely depleted bowling attack in the 2025/26 Ashes and were beaten at home by another threadbare New Zealand attack this week .
On and off-field discipline , common sense , a balanced low-key off field presence , reliable responses to opposition pressure and adapting cricketing nous applicable to the situation of the game are just five elements lacking in the team’s structure . A captain who eventually made HIS bravado-laden presence bigger than the game itself was the final unravelling factor . The continuance with Key and McCullum after the Ashes was to me a clear indication that English cricket perpetuates its poor ways with no desire to mend them .
Grim is the only word I can think of. McCullum is sounding increasingly detached from reality in his endless pressers. He talks about improvement, learnings and then states that the opposition was better and, uh, wadda gonna do? It's so frustrating. I think Micky Arthur is the front runner but wouldn't mind Justin Langer.
It’s not a job that is attractive to a wide pool of candidates. It’s well paid but it’s a lot of hassle. Far more hassle than any franchise job
True, that's why I think Langer would be good. He can fall back into media afterwards, and watching him on teev during the Ashes he seemed to be auditioning for the job at times. Anyway, clean broom is needed at any rate.
So shoot Baz?