Brendon McCullum has admitted that England’s Ashes failure was fundamentally a failure of preparation for pressure, conceding that his players were far less ready for the intensity of the series than he had assumed. Speaking at an event hosted by the team’s sponsors, Rothesay, the head coach said he now recognises that the problem was not a lack of preparation per se, but poor or insufficient coaching in how to handle the moments that decide Test matches. “I thought some of our guys were more ready for the pressure that was coming in Australia than they [actually] were,” McCullum said. The admission cuts to the heart of his coaching philosophy, which has long sought to remove pressure from players. “That’s always been one of our things, to try and take pressure away from the guys,” he said. “It’s going to land with some guys before it’s going to land with others, and our job is to make sure it lands with everyone a little quicker than maybe it has done.”
A new approach to pressure
McCullum’s solution marks a clear departure from the freewheeling atmosphere that defined his early tenure. He now believes that simply creating good vibes is insufficient; players need rigorous tactical drilling so that when the game tightens, they have absolute clarity. “It’s making sure we’re a little bit more drilled down on some of those tactics so the guys have got absolute clarity in those pressure moments, so that we can hopefully be able to handle those better than we have in the bigger series so far,” he said. The shift follows a winter in which England were competitive in long stretches of the Ashes but repeatedly stumbled in the decisive phases. McCullum’s earlier and controversial suggestion that the team might have “trained too much” – a comment that drew sharp criticism from former players, some of whom called for fan refunds – now appears to have been set aside. The team played only one pre-series warm-up match before the Ashes, a decision widely condemned as inadequate preparation for Australian conditions. McCullum implied that the coaching staff had not done enough to equip players with the tactical frameworks needed under pressure, and that the burden falls on him to correct that.
The head coach has identified a route to what he calls a “huge uplift in our performance”, mirroring the transformation he oversaw after his appointment in 2022. “There’s been a period of reflection on where we were in Australia and what we’ve been able to achieve over the last four years,” he said. “There’s some things which have needed to change, and we have changed.” The key to this second great uplift, he said, will be the team’s ability to “nail those moments when the game’s on the line”. He wants England to become “a better version” of the side seen over the past four years – “a team which handles pressure more, which is able to win those big moments and tactically understands when the game is teetering”. The upcoming summer series against New Zealand, the first since 2022 not dominated by five-Test contests against India or Australia, offers what he sees as a genuine opportunity to reset.
Firm grip on dressing-room culture
The necessity of that reset extends beyond tactics. McCullum admitted this week that he needed to have a “firm grip” on the squad after a winter marred by “embarrassing alcohol-fuelled episodes” in New Zealand and Australia. While boundaries had clearly been crossed, he said the underlying issue was that the right baselines for behaviour had not been established. “From a cultural point of view and a discipline point of view, I think we need to make sure we’re operating in the manner that we want to and is expected of us,” McCullum said. “Playing professional sport is a great career, and it’s great fun travelling around the world and trying to win games of cricket, but ultimately you’re representing your country and you’ve got some responsibilities and obligations to carry yourself in the right way. It’s ensuring that improves.”
Following those incidents, stricter discipline rules were introduced, including prohibitions on public drunkenness, alcohol-related social media posts, and a midnight curfew. Players are also required to inform management of their whereabouts after 9pm. The measures reflect McCullum’s “no dickhead” policy, a principle he has previously described as not simply about personality but about the expectation that international cricketers avoid negative publicity and maintain professionalism. However, reports have emerged that during the Ashes some players felt McCullum was “naturally drawn to those like him who enjoy a beer, a vape and a round of golf”, unintentionally creating a clique. That perception, according to the reports, led some squad members to feel that a “non-serious environment” had cost them a significant opportunity. James Anderson, the former fast bowler, noted in June 2022 that the dressing-room culture under Ben Stokes and McCullum was unlike anything he had seen in two decades, characterised by a calm belief even during difficult chases. The challenge now, McCullum acknowledged, is to ensure that culture is inclusive and disciplined without losing its core strengths.
The coach’s own limits
McCullum’s ability to deliver those improvements is complicated by his own workload. He recently marked the fourth anniversary of his appointment as Test coach and is approaching the second full year of his expanded role as all-format head coach, a promotion confirmed in September 2024 when he took over England’s white-ball sides from Matthew Mott. His contract runs until the end of 2027. The first winter as all-format coach was relatively gentle, centred on a three-Test series in New Zealand. The second was far more punishing: McCullum spent only a few days at home between early October and mid-March. He has a wife, Ellissa, three children, and a farm, and was promised when he accepted the white-ball duties that periods at home would be built into the calendar. The reality has been different. He arrived in England only a week before the Rothesay event, has had the Test side as his full focus for only a few days, and has not seen a single County Championship match in person this year.
McCullum has been clear that his appetite for the job has “never wavered” and that he remains “fiercely determined” to improve the team. Yet the compromises involved in protecting his enthusiasm and his sanity are obvious. He cannot, in these circumstances, be the best, most committed Test coach he could be – a tension that raises questions about the dual-role model at the ECB. Despite the scrutiny and the Ashes setback, McCullum insists he is committed to the project and is confident he can manage the demands. “If you can’t change a man, change the man,” he has famously said, a pragmatic maxim that now applies as much to his own arrangements as to his players.
Selection decisions
On the playing side, McCullum confirmed that Jacob Bethell is expected to recover from a finger injury in time for the first Test against New Zealand. The rest of the top five, including a debut for Emilio Gay as opener, is inked in. Shoaib Bashir is likely to be chosen as the specialist spinner ahead of Rehan Ahmed – who did not play a game between being signed by Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League in late April and the start of the Lions’ match against South Africa A at Beckenham on Friday. Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson are very likely to form the seam attack. The only selection dilemma England face is whether to promote Jamie Smith to number six, with Ben Stokes moving down the order. McCullum said he was “probably more leaning towards” making that swap. Uncapped players James Rew and Sonny Baker have also been called up for the series, while Jofra Archer is omitted for workload management after the IPL. The squad will gather with a clear instruction: the era of simply taking pressure away is over. The work of drilling down on tactics, enforcing discipline, and recalibrating the coach’s own focus has begun.
