\n<\/p>\n
A harder task for the England regime is to repair the damage caused to the relationship with supporters.<\/p>\n
This was the worst overseas Ashes performance in years, and the anger towards what happened on and off the field was immense. Plenty of fans will be staggered that no one at the top has paid with their job.<\/p>\n
Winning cures most ills, and there is a calculated gamble from Gould, Key and co that England have a good chance of success over the coming months.<\/p>\n
Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan this summer are winnable, ditto for a winter in South Africa and Bangladesh, before the 150th anniversary Test against Australia in Melbourne. There is not another white-ball tournament until the autumn of next year.<\/p>\n
Still, all triumphs for the foreseeable future will come with the asterisk of previous failures against the very best. Even if England regain the urn on home soil in the summer of 2027, this regime may already have its legacy defined by what happened in Australia.<\/p>\n
Central to the immediate future of the Test team is the relationship between coach McCullum and captain Stokes.<\/p>\n
Suggestions the two might not be on the same page come from the divergence in their messaging in Australia. While still publicly backing each other, McCullum suggested England did not stick to their method, while Stokes batted like Geoffrey Boycott and said teams had worked out how to play against them.<\/p>\n
There was the notion that Stokes is the more powerful figure of the pair, yet his on-field output \u2013 certainly with the bat \u2013 has waned and his body refuses to complete a Test series without picking up an injury.<\/p>\n
McCullum and white-ball captain Harry Brook seemed much more aligned during the T20 World Cup. It had echoes of Michael Vaughan galvanising the white-ball team in 2003, prompting Nasser Hussain to hand the Test reins to Vaughan.<\/p>\n
While there is no question \u2013 yet \u2013 that Stokes should step down as Test captain, we are certainly heading into Bazball overtime, regardless of the Ashes debacle.<\/p>\n
When he took charge of the Test team in 2022, the New Zealander signed a four-year contract. His tenure would now be over had he not signed an extension in 2024.<\/p>\n
McCullum is now faced with a rebuild that has strong parallels to the situation he inherited four years ago.<\/p>\n
Back then, England had been hammered in Australia and were disconnected from their supporters. Their early summer opponents were New Zealand, as they are this year. This year the first Test is at Trent Bridge – the venue of the second Test four years ago. It was Nottingham where Bazball was born \u2013 Jonny Bairstow and all that.<\/p>\n
On that occasion, England celebrated their astonishing victory over the Black Caps with beers on the dressing room balcony. Hours later, as night turned to day, players were filmed in a takeaway, with Ollie Pope gazing at his kebab like he had never seen anything so beautiful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n