England head coach Brendon McCullum says November's Ashes 'the biggest series of all our lives,' hails 'box-office' Jofra Archer

England head coach Brendon McCullum played up the enormity of this winter's Ashes by declaring it the "biggest series of all our lives". England have not taken the urn since 2015, and not since 2010/11 have they done so away from home. McCullum's side begin their quest for glory on November 21, with all five matches of the Ashes series available to watch on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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Brendon McCullum has labelled the Ashes in November as the "biggest series of all our lives" as he looks to mastermind England's 10-year wait for victory over Australia.

The five-match Test series in Australia - available to watch via TNT Sports and discovery+ - not only offers England the chance to end their decade-long barren run, but also an opportunity to end their dry spell on Australian soil, having not won the Ashes away from home since 2010/11.

McCullum said his side for the opening Test against Australia starting on November 21 is far from decided, but could not help himself from hailing the "box-office" Jofra Archer, who spearheaded England's record-breaking victory over South Africa on Sunday.

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Archer has impressed since making his comeback from injury, and exhibited a stellar performance against South Africa with a superb spell of 4-18. McCullum said he would be a "huge player" for his side.

"That was an unbelievable spell," McCullum said. "It was box-office bowling… [It's] not just his pace, but his skill, his ability to shift it both ways and to test batters with the steep bounce he gets.

"He's a proper cricketer, hence why we've taken our time with him to make sure that we give him every chance to be in the biggest series of all of our lives.

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"It's always a delicate balance. Sometimes you need to keep bowling and you need to keep ticking over.

"I think a lot of injuries happen when you almost down the tools completely, not that I really understand how that works. But we've just got to make sure we work to the plan.

"We've had a good plan with Jof over the last little while and he's rewarded us for the type of planning that we've had with performances like tonight.

"He's going to be a huge player when we get to Australia, as a number of others are. But I don't think we'll wrap him up [in cotton wool] per se. We'll just keep working with him on how he's going and work out what's best for him."

Another player who caught the eye on Sunday was 21-year-old Jacob Bethell. He became the second-youngest England player to score a century in a One Day International (ODI), and McCullum was keen to highlight just how promising his future is, while not giving any promises over his selection.

"We will work that out when we get to Australia," McCullum said. "We've got a few other fish to fry before we get there. We've said about Jacob since we introduced him that he's got a huge future in front of him. He's very quickly taken to international cricket, and things have come really quickly for him as well.

"He's going to have some life: 21 years of age, and being able to play like he does… I want to celebrate the fact that his first ever professional hundred has been scored in the England jumper at the age of 21. I think [David] Gower's the only other one [to score an ODI hundred for England at 21], and he was a pretty good player. We'll see where Jacob ends up."

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A shoulder injury has seen Ben Stokes sidelined since July, and McCullum said his captain will be "training his a*** off" in order to get fit for the five-match series.

"The last series we saw from Stokesy is probably the best series he's had as captain, so that's a good sign," England's head coach added. "We know that for us to be competitive down in Australia, a fit, firing and motivated Ben Stokes is going to give us every chance."

A three-match Twenty20 (T20) series against South Africa is next up for England, who will also take on Ireland in three ODIs, before a double-header against New Zealand in both the formats prior to the Ashes getting underway in late November.