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When Rob Key named Brendon McCullum as England’s head coach in 2022, his quote in the official press release told supporters to “buckle up and get ready for the ride”. Now, with this hot-ticket Ashes series a few days from setting off in sun‑drenched Perth, the mix of fear and excitement among them has arguably never been greater.
The difference being that rollercoasters tend to stay on the rails, whereas England tours of Australia often career off them. No one is quite certain which way this one will play out, other than a broad agreement that Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood missing the first Test (at least) presents Ben Stokes and his tourists a golden opportunity.
Not that many locals are tipping England. The former Australia spinner Steve O’Keefe is an outlier, fancying the hosts will get “dusted” by a 3-2 scoreline – an “unthinkable call”, as per one headline. According to Jim Maxwell, the ABC’s veteran commentator: “A lot of Aussies are getting sick of crap English teams turning up here.”
If he is honest, Stokes will know deep down that his men should probably be defending the Ashes rather than the tougher challenge of trying to win them back. Not because of the biblical rain in Manchester two years ago – telling though it was – but the almost performatively loose way they began that drawn series. They only got serious when 2-0 down and incensed by Jonny Bairstow’s stumping at Lord’s.
One wonders what the Australian view of England would be had they been so gimlet-eyed from the outset or were they to have iced that run chase against India in August for a 3-1 series win. As it is, with a recent record against their fellow “Big Three” nations that reads 15 Tests, five wins, eight defeats and zero series victories, the verdict here seems to be of a side that is lacking in substance and a bit too pleased with itself.
This is the tour to change that perception; to compete in a manner that earns Australia’s respect. The combination of Perth’s bounce and a day-nighter in Brisbane makes for a tough start that could easily set England on a familiar course. But one thing that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that this is a different side by way of outlook and approach.
The genesis of this came in the 4-0 defeat four years ago. A bleak trip, England were mentally dragged down by pandemic restrictions off the field and, with a Heath Robinson batting lineup and largely fast-medium attack, destroyed on it. Ashley Giles, director of England men’s cricket at the time, insisted that mass sackings would solve little, with the domestic game “setting up future leaders for failure”.
But while yet to claim a defining series victory – away wins in Pakistan and New Zealand notwithstanding – Stokes and McCullum have largely undermined that prediction thus far. A win/loss rate of 25 to 14 since (shaved to 22:12 when Stokes has been on the park) represents a significant uptick from the final run of one win in 17 that led to Chris Silverwood being ousted as head coach and Joe Root stepping down as captain.
That view on the county game’s shortcomings may be shared to a degree, attributes now trumping output in selection. But the broader diagnosis from Giles’s replacement, Key, differed. There was not, he believed, a shortfall in talent, rather a collective buildup of negativity that was stifling players. With an instinctive, aggressive new captain in Stokes, he wanted a head coach who would breathe weapons‑grade positivity through the squad. Hence, McCullum.
The first year of the project was built chiefly on three elements: expanding the minds of England’s batters to discover the true limits of what was possible; backing them to do so with longer rope selection‑wise; and wringing the last drops of magic out of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. Stokes, who had taken time out a year earlier for mental health reasons, also brought fresh thinking on the field.
The gear shift was palpable, England racing along at a pioneering rate of 4.76 runs per over, reeling in four successive 250-plus run chases, and winning 10 of their first 12 under the new regime. The fast bowlers had less time to put their feet up, but a far broader canvas on which to paint 20 wickets, evidenced by a remarkable win in Rawalpindi in late 2022 – the start of a historic 3-0 sweep – on a pitch that was sleepier than Princess Aurora.
There were signs, however, that it might have been going to their heads, a one-run defeat in New Zealand that winter only the fourth time a side has lost after enforcing the follow-on. Until they kicked into gear midway through the Ashes the following summer, they were trying too hard to show how relaxed they were: preparing with a golf trip to Scotland, declaring on the opening day at Edgbaston and tossing away wickets at Lord’s despite Nathan Lyon’s injury. Stokes eschewing overdue knee surgery the previous winter was another misstep.
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Though not exactly unprecedented, the 4-1 defeat in India in early 2024 triggered the first signs of a team now looking to upgrade itself. The debate over Bairstow or Ben Foakes was ended for good, both men dropped in favour of the emerging talent of Jamie Smith, while the bowling attack was deemed in need of a revamp.
Ollie Robinson was viewed as too feckless – stellar numbers trumped by fitness problems – while Jack Leach made way for Shoaib Bashir. The most controversial call was telling Anderson to retire. Not that the figures in his final year, 19 wickets at 43, or his age, about to turn 42, should have made it so. McCullum simply craved more pace and younger legs, while Bashir’s over-spin and bounce was deemed likelier to succeed in Australia (a belief that may be starting to wobble as the starting line approaches).
Results since have been up and down: West Indies and Sri Lanka were dealt with comfortably at home, before a 2-1 defeat in Pakistan – their second series loss – and a 2-1 win in New Zealand. The 2-2 draw with India this year was the one that got away, getting to within 73 runs of knocking off 374 at the Oval, three wickets down, only for a collapse against a swinging older ball meant they lost by six.
But there have been promising signs: the emergence of Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse, and Jofra Archer’s return after his injury ordeal. Ben Duckett has become the leading opener in Test cricket – or at least partner to Yashasvi Jaiswal in a fantasy World XI. Smith has looked to the manner born, while Root and Harry Brook have been otherworldly. The return of Stokes as a genuine all-rounder is arguably the biggest plus of all.
As well as lampooning some of their more outlandish comments, or that needlessly petulant end to the Old Trafford Test in July, critics point to their need for flat pitches. This has some merit, not least their difficulties on spinning tracks. As Duckett recently admitted, they are trying to become more nuanced. But it also ignores wins on spicy surfaces such as Headingley in 2023 or Wellington last winter, when Brook struck a spellbinding century on a greentop with 15 wickets falling on the first day.
There are no guarantees in a harsh country like Australia but, for the first time since the win in 2010-11, England have arrived with a clearly defined identity, some genuine fast bowlers and optimism, not fatalism. Time, as Key would put it, to buckle up once more.
