The Ashes: Brendon McCullum will not 'completely rip up script' if he is kept as England coach after defeat in Australia
Brendon McCullum wants to stay on as England head coach after 4-1 series loss in Australia - but vows not to radically alter way he has led team to this point; New Zealander insists there is "accountability" when batters play poor shots and discusses relationship with captain Ben Stokes
Thursday 8 January 2026 07:15, UK
Under-pressure England head coach Brendon McCullum says he is willing to evolve his methods - but will not "rip up the script completely" if he is allowed to continue in the role following the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.
England lost the series in just 11 days of cricket after an error-strewn first three Tests in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, with their lean preparation and aggressive style of cricket, plus a mid-series beach break in Noosa where they were pictured drinking, criticised.
A two-day victory in the Boxing Day game at the MCG - England's first Test win in Australia in 15 years - ended any danger of a 5-0 whitewash, but they were then beaten in the series finale in Sydney, as they suffered a 14th defeat in their last 28 matches.
- Australia secure nervy Ashes win to claim 4-1 series victory
- Scorecard: Australia vs England, fifth Ashes Test, Sydney
- Ashes Daily Podcast with Nasser and Athers in Australia
- Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want
A statement from ECB CEO Richard Gould released on Thursday said "necessary changes" would be made.
Speaking to Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain at the SCG, McCullum - who is contracted to until the end of the home Ashes in 2027 - insisted he is eager to stay in the job but not prepared to terminate a front-foot approach that he feels has made England a better team since he and captain Ben Stokes took charge ahead of the 2022 summer and won 10 of their first 11 games at the helm.
The New Zealander said: "It is not about ripping up our script completely. From when we took over to where we are now, we are a better cricket team.
'You have to have conviction in your beliefs'
"I take offence to [any suggestion I don't want to evolve]. I am not against evolution, I welcome it. I am not rigid in my beliefs but I have conviction in my methods.
"That doesn't mean you are blind to progress but to throw everything out that has worked in pursuit of something completely unknown doesn't make any sense.
"I am keen to carry on in the role. Those decisions ultimately aren't up to me but the lessons we will digest from this tour and what we have built, it would be a shame to rip that up and chase something no one knows whether it will be successful.
"If we stay true to what we believe in we give ourselves a good opportunity to progress as a team over the next few years. In this series, we have been pretty poor in the key moments so it was a real missed opportunity."
McCullum: We don't operate in a soft environment
Under McCullum and Stokes, England have not won any of their four marquee five-Test series, drawing 2-2 at home to Australia in 2023 and losing to their Ashes rivals this winter, plus going down 4-1 in India in early 2024 and then drawing 2-2 on home turf against Shubman Gill's men earlier this year after being beaten in a nail-biting final Test at The Kia Oval.
England's Ashes defeat was littered with rash shots, with Jamie Smith and Will Jacks' dismissals across the SCG Test adding to the list.
When asked by Hussain what is said in the dressing room after those moments, McCullum said: "There is always accountability. We don't operate in a soft environment, myself or the skipper.
"You get to where you get in your life from where you've come from because you know when to deliver a hard message and when to give guys a pat on the back. What we say in the dressing room can be very different to what we say in public.
"Nothing is binary. Some guys are at their best putting teams under pressure, others when they are trying to absorb. We are not the first team to get that balance wrong in Australia."
McCullum on England's prep: We wanted warm-up at the WACA
McCullum admitted after England's Ashes fate was sealed with an 82-run defeat in Adelaide in the third Test that the side playing just one warm-up game before the series opener in Perth - at a venue in Lilac Hill that in no way replicated the bouncy conditions they were likely to face against Australia - was an error.
The 44-year-old added after the loss in Sydney that England had tried to book the WACA for a tune-up fixture but were unable to do so, while he said the team not having a fielding coach on tour - something highlighted as the number of dropped catches in the series entered the teens - was "not for the lack of trying."
"There is a lot of franchise cricket on and the franchises pay a lot more than we do," said McCullum.
Finally, when quizzed by Hussain on whether he and captain Ben Stokes remained in sync with their messaging, the head coach said: "Stokes and I are always on the same page. We have become good friends and colleagues.
"We have robust conversations. It doesn't mean we agree all the time but we commit to the side and then whatever we decide we support the other one.
"Could we have done more [as a group]? Of course. The next little while is making sure we don't make the same mistakes again. Even if we had won 5-0, there would have been areas of progress you would look to take on board."
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
Australia win five-match series 4-1
- First Test (Perth): Australia won by eight wickets
- Second Test (Brisbane): Australia won by eight wickets
- Third Test (Adelaide): Australia won by 82 runs
- Fourth Test (Melbourne): England won by four wickets
- Fifth Test (Sydney): Australia won by five wickets
