England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, has now admitted that his side might have done something inadequate in their lead-up to Ashes 2025-26 following their thrashing defeat in the third Test at Adelaide on Sunday, 21st December. Australia have claimed an 82-run win in their third Test to win their 3-0 series against England, retaining their Ashes in just 10 days of cricket against Ben Stokes’s side.
Preparations undertaken by England ahead of their tour have been closely watched. Before embarking on the tour to Australia, England played a series involving white-ball cricket in New Zealand. They only had one internal match before the first Test. England’s absence of red-ball action was reflected in their performance, as they lost the first Test thoroughly in two days.
Talking about the media conference after the Adelaide defeat, McCullum showed responsibility and said that there were a few things that did not go as planned even before the series. He said that he and the team got a lot of things wrong and even wondered if the laid-back attitude he wanted the team to adopt before a foreign tour was the right approach for the Australian circumstances. He said that perhaps there was a need for a more thorough preparation before the first test.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of questions asked and rightfully so,” said McCullum. “We haven’t got everything right and I haven’t got everything right as a coach either. Ultimately [as head coach] you are responsible for how you get your side ready and prepare them. I had conviction in our methods, not just leading into the first Test but also in between Tests,” said Brendon McCullum.
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“I look back now and think ‘did we need more leading into the first and did we need less leading into the second?’ We lost 3-0 so you would probably say there was room for change there. Again, you put your hand up as a coach and say you might not have got that right. I felt it would give us our best chance because it has previously. Sitting here 3-0, it didn’t work,” said McCullum.
The Aussies registered a dominant win in the Adelaide Test on Sunday, December 21 – the team has now won 16 of their last 18 Tests against England. The Boxing Day Test will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26 and the series will end at Sydney Cricket Ground as the last Test of Ashes will be played on January 4, 2026.
