Brendon McCullum defends Bazball, says England 'got in own way' for nine days due to Ashes pressure before style of play returned in Adelaide loss
Published 21/12/2025 at 05:53 GMT
Brendon McCullum defended England's style of play after Australia retained the Ashes with an 82-run third Test win in Adelaide. However, former England spinner Graeme Swann criticised the side's lack of flexibility in key moments, pointing to major differences to the last successful English side in Australia. Watch every ball of the Ashes live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
England 'got in own way' for first nine days of Ashes - McCullum
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England head coach Brendon McCullum believes his side "got in [their] own way" when it came to dealing with pressure as his side fell to an insurmountable 3-0 deficit in the 2025/26 NRMA Insurance men's Ashes.
Despite a lower-order rally from Jamie Smith and Will Jacks, Australia held their nerve to win the third Test in Adelaide by 82 runs, extending England’s winless streak in the country to 18 matches.
England’s aggressive style of batting, nicknamed ‘Bazball’, has come under heavy scrutiny this series, most notably when Harry Brook was bowled in the second innings trying to reverse-sweep Nathan Lyon.
"The last two days have been our best cricket," McCullum told TNT Sports. "[During] the previous nine days, we were so caught up and driven to succeed that we got in our own way.
"With our talent and our skill and our ability, it’s only been the last two days we’ve actually competed and had our best two days of the tour.
"There’s a lesson in that, not just for the players but a lesson for the coaching staff as well, how you free guys up when the pressure is highest, but that’s things you have to learn."
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England’s batting received plenty of criticism from fans and pundits alike for shot selection at crucial moments in the series, especially when playing aggressive drives outside off stump and edging to the slips.
In the second innings in Adelaide, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root were all dismissed by prodding balls outside off, while Zak Crawley got stumped charging down the pitch to Lyon.
While McCullum conceded that his side did not get the preparation right immediately before the series, he defended his team’s style of play.
He said: "We were rock hard in our belief of the style we were going to play down here, knowing that we’ll be challenged, but I do think we probably got a little bit stuck and again I’ll put my hand up as coach and there should have been absolute clarity.
"Whatever happens in this series, this is how we need to play, because this is going to give us our best chance. We have set this team up with the skills and the personalities, and we have set the environment up like that.
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"Maybe we didn’t quite get it right in the last stages leading into those games, but there is an immense amount of talent within that dressing room.
"There are some really good characters and a steely belief to try and achieve for everyone who supports the team but we have fallen short in this series."
'It creeps in' - Swann blasts England's inability to adapt
Former England spinner and TNT sports expert Graeme Swann criticised the current side’s mentality of not adapting their style of play to the conditions.
He believed the England side should have learned from their collapse in the first Test and changed how they approached future matches.
Swann said: "You don't just say 'we're all going to play the same'. In [the second Test in] Brisbane, absolutely in control of that Test match, then all of a sudden: nick, nick, nick.
"Then again today, it creeps in. It's very easy to lose your concentration, get tired and fall back to your English technique that then gets you out."
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Swann also pointed to the 2010/11 Ashes series – the last time England won a series in Australia – and batters such as Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen as examples of how to play.
He said: "KP [Pietersen] would hit it for four, but the other three would just leave it out there all day long, and bat for two days.
"I think that's gone out of the world game at the minute - well, there's one or two players in the Australia team who still seem happy to bat for days.
"I can't remember the last time an England team batted for five or six sessions, that I think they needed to do in Australia to win Test matches."
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Watch every ball of the Ashes live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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