Ashes 2025-26.

[Durhamfootman]

15 months between Perth and his previous test match, seemingly. I know he hasn't played for Durham in that time. What's a central contract worth for a multi format cricketer? a Mill or half a Mill a year? To work on a dodgy knee.... I know I'd want to see that contract out. Could be another 2 years he has on that

[sussexpob]

Seems Wood intends to keep playing Tests

Even is Mark Wood was physically crippled in a freak accident, he will never retire. The 2nd year of his deal only kicked in recently, retiring at this point would essentially be akin to setting fire to a guaranteed 1.9 million quid to do essentially the exact same thing that he has done for over a year; basically nothing. So he will limp on, sometime in the distant future he will bowl 10 overs and go back home for a year to recover, and in October 2027 after the last cheque has cleared he will fade off to spend all that hard earned money.

[sussexpob]

The more you look it, the more the ECB really need to explain why they gave Wood this huge deal. The justification for multiple year deals was to stop people buggering of to Franchise cricket, but Wood has played 4 T20 games outside England in his career, and not long before being given his contract had already publicly ruled himself out doing so for the reminder of his career. And that's before we look at his performance in the year he was awarded it, which was woeful in all forms, and the fact he is one of the least reliable players in English history turning 35 when they gave him it.

Almost like it helps having your life-long best mate in a position of large influence on these decisions. Let's be honest here, Stokes was looking out for his mates financial future - there is no objective performance reasons to have given him that deal. I'd Imagine if I were running a company and I gave my best mate who never turned up for work the largest guaranteed salary ever rewarded to anyone in my field, I'd probably end up having to explain that in court.

[sussexpob]

Matt Fisher will replace him

Sound planning again, it seems. Lets pick the guy who was Surrey's worst full time bowler last year, he is after all on fire so far this tour. Average of 130 per wicket across 3 games, and just got taken for a wicketless ton by Australia's B team.

Nothing says potential success like that. Especially when he was taken apart by the legendary Jermaine Blackwood on test debut.

Are England's selectors actually watching these games?

[Slipstream]

Matt Fisher will replace him.

Seems Wood intends to keep playing Tests.

Well, if he is still playing them.

Fisher!!!??? has been crap for the Lions.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well, apparently Sonny Baker is injured.

If you want Josh Hull, just say so!

Maybe Fisher hasn't been over-training.

Not likely to play, anyway.

[sussexpob]

I think I have vented enough about the past, moving onto the future.....

The series is almost certainly gone with England in miracle street, and unless that miracle occurs I can see no way McCullum survives the fallout. Even if England rapidly improve significantly, the die has been cast - the narrative will be that it took two games to get an undercooked side into gear if that were to occur, and that will fall at the feet of the coach. What he said in the last few days was stupid, but in his position did he have a choice? He could either double down or admit to having made a fatal error in preparing the team.... both lead to the same result in the eyes of the press and public. Its 3-2 or the job centre for Bazza. He's dug his own grave and now its time to lie down in it.

Stokes on the other hand has a chance to come out and set the tone for what the future will bring. And to be fair to Ben, if anyone apart from Root comes out of Brisbane deserving some praise, then its Stokes for his gutsy rear-guard of 150 off balls. It's hard to change an engrained culture, especially when you are resting on a beach and not working on it 100% 24-7 given the time frames, but that innings with Jacks could be significant for an adapted blueprint on the horizon. If Stokes can set the example and bat like that again at Adelaide, and can bring some of his team-mates to follow his example, then I think he can save his own job. The irony is, if Stokes tries to set the example and his team-mates burn up in a blaze of glory, to me anyway this doesn't say much for his influence and leadership in the dressing room. And one thing he does need is his VC not being the leader of the idiot shot brigade. Brook has to show leadership and set examples too, after all he will be the next leader assuming Stokes can't flip the disaster train and doesn't survive the bomb throwing in January.

England won't win 3, maybe not even win 1, but there is no reason they cannot close the gap in quality and make Australia work for each test victory. Adelaide should be the closest pitch to the CEO dialled in ones England ordered last summer. They have to score runs in this test, and given Adelaide's history of being a slower, docile pitch for the first 3-4 days, there is no reason they cannot. And I am not talking about batting out 550 like they have in recent series on the deck, even a 350-400 that puts some overs into the legs of Australia's pacemen will do. Australia's quick attack has two matches, a few injuries, and is old.

Adelaide was England's biggest chance pre-series, they have to at the very least take this game to 5 days and narrowly lose it. The problem is, the positives have to be viewed in proportion to the negatives. If the pitch is calm, then how does this bowling attack take wickets? What happens late on Day 1 or 2 when the opposition are getting a score and you have to turn to a spinner to put in the overs...

In that respect, I think England need to prepare to go to toe to with the Aussies. If you concede 500, you have to score 500 or take 2 days out the game for the draw. As 2006/07 showed, those types of Adelaide games occur, and then the pitch changes late and a result can go from certain draw to opportunties to win. South Africa some years after also showed if you get outplayed and pitch remains ok to bat on, you can still bat out a draw if your mindset is there.

And my god would England snap your hands off for a draw at this point....

[GarlicJam]

thanks for bringing up Adelaide 06/07, Sussex.

Great memories.

[bigfluffylemon]

Mark wood allegedly out of the whole series now as well

Mark Wood injured after achieving f*** all? Who saw that coming?

[meninblue]

Dobell.....

Like a child who realises too late they should have started their revision months ago, England are about to head into three almost back-to-back Tests knowing they need a miracle to pass. But while it may feel like Brendon McCullum, the England Men's head coach, is gaslighting the entire nation by suggesting they were overprepared going into the Brisbane Test, there maybe a grain of truth in his general point.

Certainly, there's little to be gained by intensive nets and fitness sessions now. That stuff should have happened months ago. It should be ingrained and beyond debate. Just as technical flaws should have been spotted months ago. So, just as you wouldn't want a child to stay up all night before their exam in a late attempt to cram the information into their heads, there's little to be said for extra training sessions now.

England did actually try this in 2013/14. Andy Flower, a proud coach who had built a fine team, was furious at the speed with which it all fell apart. And he reacted in the only way he knew at the time: to work harder and push harder. The result was a training session, just ahead of the Sydney Test, which is legendary in its brutality. Flower positively thrashed the ball at the team in practice. He made them run hard in the sun. He made some changes - Joe Root was among those left out - and he had some frank conversations.

Did it work?

Did it hell. England lost by 281 runs in just three days. So they are probably right to take a few days away and clear their minds now. They're going to need fresh heads and fresh bodies in Adelaide. The rounds of golf they play are not the problem. But McCullum's remarks are perplexing. For one thing, when he says "I firmly believe it [the solution] is not training five days straight in sapping conditions", you might well ask whose decision it was to do so before Brisbane. It was surely his.

More importantly, preparation should have begun long before then. It should have begun before they agreed on an itinerary which saw them warmup for this series with limited-overs games in New Zealand, then play on a slow, flat pitch in a park. It should have begun when they agreed to a tour itinerary which included a day-night warmup match, which didn't fit in with their Test schedule. It should have begun when they picked a keeper who doesn't keep for his county, an opening batter with a first-class average of 31 and a fast bowler in his mid-30s who hadn't played a first-class game for more than a year. Preparation for an Ashes tour begins years - literally years - before the arrival of the team. Worrying about how many net sessions they have in Adelaide is like worrying whether the sausage rolls on the Titanic were cooked through. It's way too late for this stuff.

The fact is, a more sophisticated management team may well have found a way to ensure England had better facilities for their warmup game. They would have pushed Cricket Australia to provide a more appropriate surface for the match against the Lions, or arranged to hire a school, a university or a club so they could do this themselves. They have the money. This is not rocket science. Would it have made any difference? Probably not. This England team have been programmed to think the way to respond to a probing session from a bowler is to try and reverse the pressure. In other words, hit the bowler off their length.

It is this mentality, as much as anything, which is damaging England's chances. And while Stokes has said - and demonstrated - that he requires his team to also know how to soak up pressure, the overriding message was one of counterattacking. Hence, the lines about saving the format and inspiring new supporters. Winning was never enough for this lot.

That all sounds pretty hubristic now, doesn't it?

Coaching has to be about more than sounding like an inspirational poster. Otherwise, McCullum could be replaced by a picture of a dolphin and a John Farnham soundtrack. It has to involve working on technique, too. A more sophisticated management team would have spotted the technical flaws holding back Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and co long before the Australian bowlers did. And they would have noted Harry Brook's wretched dismissal in the final Test of the series against India and cautioned against ever thinking a game is won until the champagne is drunk and the medals awarded. England, in truth, have made soft decisions for months. And now it's coming back to bite.

There was a lot of talk from McCullum after the Brisbane Test about the team being "strong" and "tough". And, up to a point, we all know what he means. But it's not really about being either of those things. Or certainly not just about that. It's every bit as much about being competent and good. Being tough won't help Pope suddenly develop a robust technique. Just as being tough won't suddenly make Smith an experienced keeper. This language is all wrong. It's the language of the playground. The nightclub. The casino.

This goes to the heart of McCullum, really. He's a gambler. A guy who seems to think only suckers work for their rewards, so instead tries to beat the system with an audacious punt. And sure, there may be some flash nights and great memories. But make no mistake: the house always wins eventually. And no one deludes themselves more than a gambler. So when McCullum said, as he did after defeat on Sunday night, that England were "a bee's d***" away from winning the Ashes of 2023, he is talking about how unfortunate his side were. He's not talking about England's reckless declaration at Edgbaston. Or their reckless reaction to the short ball at Lord's. He's not even talking about how fortunate England were in Leeds when Mark Wood's cameo bailed out his side's batters by adding 70 for the last two wickets. He's talking about how unlucky England were that it rained in Manchester. It's absolutely true to say England were on top of the game. But it's worth remembering Australia were five down when the rain came. Not nine. There was a lot of cricket to be played on a flat wicket. And the most successful sides, like the most successful people, don't trust to luck. England left themselves at the mercy of the Manchester weather. And that is never wise.

It's not really McCullum's fault. He's a symptom, not a cause. For, at the end of the last Ashes series in Australia, Ashley Giles warned: "You can change me, change the head coach, change the captain. But we're only setting up future leaders for failure. That's all we're doing. We're only pushing it down the road." So, what did England do? They sacked the coach, the captain and the director of cricket and put their faith in charismatic leaders. They picked a managing director who had never managed and a head coach who had never coached. They hoped the new management's vibes and bravado could bypass the need for structural reform. When you look at it like this, it's not such a surprise they have ended up in this position.

And the reform of county cricket? Well, over the years, it's been diluted and degraded. It still has value, and it still has charm. But its ability to produce international cricketers has been eroded by the prioritisation of short-term financial gain and a schedule that everyone knows is suboptimal. But you know this already. We all know this. We'll be having the same conversations after the next ODI World Cup (England have sunk to eighth in the ODI rankings under Key and McCullum), too. We need our game's administrators to wrestle with these issues; instead, they have baked in many of the problems of the domestic system by selling the key weeks of the season. Sadly for them, most cricket supporters still judge the success of a governing body by match results, not financial returns. And if you have a presiding body that seems to have accepted winning the big overseas is unlikely, you have a presiding body that has accepted failure.

Maybe England will produce a miracle. They have a player, in Stokes, who has produced a few before. But even if the unlikely happens - and it should be stressed, it really is terribly unlikely - haven't we seen enough by now? If England are to optimise the talent they have available, they require a more mature, more sophisticated management team.

Great post, Durham

Consistent effort is so boring and out of fashion. Just like your exam analogy. Waste 365 days by eating junk and not doing exercise for whole year and expect to outperform the best strength trainers and runners on January 1st in the gym. I agree these things do not happens in real world. Proponents of such theories are those who have no discipline and do not like to do hard work for atleast the minimum time it needs to be done or sacrifice fun time for montonous stuff. Be it last day studies or last day preparation in sports. Only a sensible management who believes in routine and efforts will be able to change things from this approach. It is clear BigMac is not of that type as seen in so many interviews he has given since taking over. He expects results against tough sides to happen by chance not practice. Whole year England batting tea looks to bat 60 overs in test, and suddenly day expect to bat a full day or more or 150 to 180 overs to save test. Such sudden humongous changes are incredibly tough and will cost series against tougher teams.

Have been saying all the while that Bazball will fail in India and Australia. There is no surpise there. I would add Test champions SA once Rabada is fit. . And i would not be surprised if England wins test series against someone else with same Bazball.

This Bazball is good for T20i, IPL, Big Bash, Vitality Blast and ODI. Many batters who do not have skills to bat long should be dropped. The head coach should tellthat team needs to go with approach of batting 150 to 180 overs an innings, rather than promoting Bazball. He has taken 'Bazball' product to such a low that even in Christmas 50% discount sale no test cricket fan will buy it.

[Durhamfootman]

Great post, Durham

Consistent effort is so boring and out of fashion. Just like your exam analogy.

I hate to disappoint you Adi, but it wasn't me that wrote that, it was cricket writer George Dobell. I posted it in full rather than just the link, because the article was behind a paywall

I like Dobell, because he always strikes me as being, at the same time, knowledgeable, considered and consistent.... unlike many of the other cricket writers who either act as ECB mouthpieces, are media mates of Rob Key, or have gin to sell and clicks to accumulate

[sussexpob]

I like Dobell, because he always strikes me as being, at the same time, knowledgeable, considered and consistent.... unlike many of the other cricket writers who either act as ECB mouthpieces, are media mates of Rob Key, or have gin to sell and clicks to accumulate

Dobell burned his bridges with the ECB early in his career, and has increasingly took on the role of media rebel. In this regard he is a lone wolf, seemingly the only person who wants to tell it like it is, or demand a better standard of governance for the game. I sometimes disagree with him, but there are few journalists left in the game that are worthy of respect...Dobell is one.

[sussexpob]

One of things that feels unique to this ongoing Ashes is the sheer volume of social media content that is being churned out, a lot of it involving Aussie players. Its interesting, because you learn a lot about certain characters in the team.

Sure, I already knew that Marnus has the IQ of the average dog turd, but I didn't know that Travis Head has a brilliant comedic voice that makes him sound like the idiot character from a bad American 90s sitcom. Or that Mitchell Starc really loves to tell "funny" anecdotes where the punchline always ends in a confused silence from his audience, and then uncomfortably forced laughing. And I will not be remotely surprised in a few years to learn Alex Carey has been arrested, and the police found his dog and his wife buried under the patio.... the vibes are so strong, my serial killer radar exploded.

[GarlicJam]

I see social media has had its effect on you, Sussex.

[sussexpob]

I see social media has had its effect on you, Sussex.

After three weeks of pom insults, its time to fire back