1. Finding a new way to deal with pressure
For all that the series was obviously a failure, England were competitive for periods of most of the Ashes Tests. But McCullum has repeatedly conceded that in the key moments when matches tend to be decided his side have a habit of stumbling. The question is why, and on Friday he made the telling admission: “I thought some of our guys were more ready for the pressure that was coming in Australia than they [actually] were.” So he has had to reconsider how to best prepare for such intangibles. England were widely condemned for a lackadaisical buildup to the first Ashes Test but McCullum implied that his players’ problem was not down to poor preparation, but actually to poor, or insufficient, coaching. Given that the removal of pressure has always been at the very heart of his coaching philosophy, this is essentially an admission of failure. “That’s always been one of our things, to try and take pressure away from the guys,” he said. “[But] it’s going to land with some guys before it’s going to land with others, and our job is to make sure it lands with everyone a little quicker than maybe it has done.” McCullum is now clear that for his players to overcome pressure he does not just have to create good vibes, but also put in hard work. “It’s making sure we’re a little bit more drilled down on some of those tactics so the guys have got absolute clarity in those pressure moments, so that we can hopefully be able to handle those better than we have in the bigger series so far,” he said.
2. Getting a handle on dressing-room culture
McCullum admitted this week that he needed to have a “firm grip” on his players after a winter marked by embarrassing alcohol-fuelled episodes in New Zealand and in Australia. Though boundaries were clearly crossed, it was not so much that players abused their freedom, more that the right baselines had not been established. That has now changed. “From a cultural point of view and a discipline point of view, I think we need to make sure we’re operating in the manner that we want to and is expected of us,” McCullum said. “Playing professional sport is a great career, and it’s great fun travelling around the world and trying to win games of cricket, but ultimately you’re representing your country and you’ve got some responsibilities and obligations to carry yourself in the right way. It’s ensuring that improves.”
3. Inspiring a second great uplift
“There’s been a period of reflection on where we were in Australia and what we’ve been able to achieve over the last four years,” McCullum said on Friday, at an event hosted by the team sponsors Rothesay. “There’s some things which have needed to change, and we have changed.” Having inspired one in the summer after his arrival in 2022, he has identified a route to another “huge uplift in our performance”. This will come when his team cope better with pressure, and starts to nail “those moments when the game’s on the line”. As in 2022, the summer starts with a series against New Zealand, and the fact this is the first year since that one which isn’t dominated by a five-match Test series against India or Australia adds to the sense of opportunity. “I want us to be recognisable from what we’ve been over the last four years, but I want us to be a better version of it,” he said. “A team which handles pressure more, which is able to win those big moments and tactically understands when the game is teetering.”
4. His own lack of time and focus
McCullum has just celebrated the fourth anniversary of his appointment as Test coach and is approaching the second of the addition of white-ball duties to his job description. His first winter as all-format coach was fairly gentle, at its heart a two-month period in which England’s only action was a three-Test series in his native New Zealand. His second was far more demanding, and he would have spent only a few days at home between early October and the middle of March. McCullum has a farm, a family and three children, and was promised before accepting the white-ball job that periods at home would be built in to his calendar. But the impact of that has been that he arrived in England only a week ago, the Test side have been his full focus only for a few days, and he has not seen in person a single moment of this year’s County Championship. McCullum has been clear that despite England’s winter travails his appetite for the job has “never wavered”. But it feels obvious that the compromises involved in protecting his enthusiasm and his sanity mean he cannot be the best, most committed Test coach he could be.
5. Picking the right team
Last, not because it is least important, but because this is the question McCullum already seems to have answered, at least for now. He confirmed Jacob Bethell is expected to have recovered from an injured finger in time to play the first Test. The rest of the top five, including a debut for Emilio Gay as opener, is inked in. Shoaib Bashir is likely to be chosen as the spinner ahead of Rehan Ahmed – who did not play a game between being signed by Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League in late April and the start of the Lions’ match against South Africa A at Beckenham on Friday – and Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson are very likely to form the seam attack. So the one dilemma England have is whether to promote Jamie Smith one spot to No 6 with Ben Stokes going the other way. This isn’t much of a cliffhanger, and McCullum said he was “probably more leaning towards” making the swap.