“When we took on a project like this, it was not about necessarily settling on ‘good’.”
Nope, ‘good’ is not enough for Brendon McCullum, with the England head coach wanting his Test team to “shoot for the stars” in what will be a legacy-defining nine months.
The hors d’oeuvre comes in the form of Zimbabwe, at Trent Bridge from Thursday live on Sky Sports, but the main courses are India at home from June 20 and the Ashes in Australia from November 21.
Fans are already looking ahead to those heavyweight tussles but for England there has been a period of looking back, of reflection, of working out how to reconnect with those very fans.
Head coach McCullum feels that rapport may have been lost with the team prone to chucking away promising positions (the 2023 Ashes draw and 4-1 defeat in India in early 2024 come to mind) and also speaking a lot of drivel in the press.
There seems an acceptance that words and winning – something England have been accused of having a laissez-faire attitude to – do matter. Less hokum, more humility is the new approach.
England head coach Brendon McCullum says the team should ‘shoot for the stars’ when they play India and Australia but show ‘humility’ while doing so
Ben Stokes is asking for his team to “dominate in whatever situation” while McCullum wants the fans “along for the ride”.
Yet many fans will still be wondering whether the puzzle pieces are entirely right ahead of two such marquee series. Zak Crawley and spinner Shoaib Bashir, in particular.
Are Crawley and Bashir the right pieces of the puzzle?
There has been no backtracking from England on that with McCullum steadfast in his belief in the pair – externally at least.
That is despite Crawley averaging 8.66 with the bat in New Zealand in December and only passing fifty once in 14 Test knocks and Bashir averaging over 40 with the ball after tough tours of Pakistan and New Zealand and then struggling at the start of the County Championship season while on loan to Glamorgan from Somerset.
Mark Wood says England team-mate Zak Crawley deserves to retain his place at the top of the order
Instead, McCullum focuses on their plus points. These include Crawley’s success versus Australia – an opposition he averages 43 against – and India, and only Jasprit Bumrah and Gus Atkinson taking more Test wickets in 2024 than lofty off-spinner Bashir.
McCullum said of Crawley, whose overall Test average is 30.51 from 53 matches: “Zak has has been short of runs of late and is the first to put his hand up, but we firmly believe that his top-end game is as good as anyone in the world against the best opposition.
“We have always said his role is to go out there and try to win matches. When he gets going there are few who can put opposition teams under pressure like he can.”
On Bashir, the head coach added: “Statistically, there have been times he has been outstanding and other times where it hasn’t quite worked out but his ceiling is so high and we will keep investing in him. He has the attributes for what is in front of us.”
Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson is a solid campaigner in county cricket
Having the attributes is one thing – and England really like Bashir’s over spin from a high release point – but delivering them is another and if Crawley cannot get back to scoring runs and Bashir stutters with the ball there are options. The uber-talented Jacob Bethell in Crawley’s case and potentially Liam Dawson in Bashir’s.
Another concern may be something that could be a great strength – the bowlers able to operate at 90mph or above.
It is a tantalising prospect to think of England having Atkinson – who scooped 54 wickets in a stunning debut Test year – Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Olly Stone and more available at the same time but injuries have, as ever, bitten.
Tongue is the only one of those quicks fully fit with Carse having just returned for Durham and the others mentioned in the list above currently on the sidelines. Archer the latest to be struck down, with a thumb issue threatening to delay a Test return.
England bowler Jofra Archer is currently sidelined with a thumb injury
Why England can beat India and Australia
There are plenty of reasons to feel England can beat India and then win in Australia – and not just because India have lost the retiring Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and Australia are an ageing side who have seen Marnus Labuschagne’s runs dry up.
Ben Duckett has been superb as a Test opener since returning to the team in 2022 – if sometimes a little daft with his choice of words – Joe Root is one of the best of all time, Harry Brook looks to be on that path and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith has the gears his predecessor in that role, Ben Foakes, lacked.
Inspirational captain Stokes is back after his second hamstring injury in five months with a new-round realisation that, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary over the years, he is not in fact Superman and must manage his body accordingly.
The skipper being able to play a complete role with bat and ball could be the biggest Ashes boost of all.
England captain Stokes told Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain recently that he will return for the Test summer in peak physical condition
Plus, in Sam Cook, who will debut against Zimbabwe, England may have a man for all seasons. One with a remarkable record at home but also one who enjoys the Kookaburra ball and could be a real menace with that seed in the Ashes. There may be plenty of names in that little black book of his.
If England can also shed their unwanted penchant of losing the final Test of a series – it happened consecutively against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand in 2024 – that will go a long way to pleasing fans and perhaps pulling off some legacy victories.
A rise to No 2 in the ICC Test rankings – only Australia are above them now – shows England are indeed ‘good’.
Over the next nine months they want to become world No 1 and prove they are good enough to beat two cricketing juggernauts.
It’s time to shoot for the stars. Humbly, of course.
Watch England’s four-day Test match against Zimbabwe live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Thursday (11am first ball). Stream cricket and more with NOW.
England men’s Tests this summer ☀️
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports
- vs Zimbabwe: Thursday May 22-Sunday May 25 – Trent Bridge
- vs India: Friday June 20-Tuesday June 24 – Headingley
- vs India: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 – Edgbaston
- vs India: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 – Lord’s
- vs India: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 – Old Trafford
- vs India: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 – The Kia Oval
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26 🏏
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test: Friday November 21-Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second Test: Thursday December 4-Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17-Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25-Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4-Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
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