If you expected Brendon McCullum to reveal England are planning a completely new pragmatic approach for the third Ashes Test and will recall Lancashire’s newly appointed red-ball captain Sir James Anderson and hand Ben Foakes the wicketkeeper gloves, well… where have you been for the past three and a half years?
‘Have even more conviction in what you’re doing’ was the general message from England’s coach as he undertook rare pre-match media duties in Adelaide before the Test, which starts here on Wednesday.
With the opening six days of the series — yes, that is the extent of the cricket so far — having pretty much gone as badly as is conceivable for England, who are 2-0 down and looking far likelier to suffer a 5-0 whitewash defeat rather than reclaim the Ashes, there may have been faint hopes of a change of philosophy. Especially given captain Ben Stokes’ evident frustration in Brisbane.
“For us to go on and win the series, it’s not about throwing out what’s been successful for us over the last few years; it’s about having more conviction,” offered McCullum, doubling down on England’s approach. “It’s about making sure we have our plans and our disciplines just screwed down a touch more.
“Knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing settled batting line-ups are not really our way.”
That was in response to a question about whether England may change any of their top seven batters in Adelaide amid suggestions Jacob Bethell could come into the side — perhaps in place of Ollie Pope — having made a solid 71 for the England Lions against Australia A last week.
England coach Brendon McCullum is not for turning (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
McCullum poured cold water on the notion of a batting rejig, saying: “We’ve had a top seven now for a period of time and we’ve been reasonably successful with it. These conditions should suit the style of batters we’ve got as well.”
Those differences in Adelaide — shorter boundaries square of the wicket and perhaps less sideways movement and less bounce — are some of the reasons McCullum was in a positive mood, despite England’s perilous position.
And, while being his usual bullish self, he did make some concessions. There was an acknowledgement that England have been too slow to react to Australia’s changeable plans, and have not been good enough with bat, ball or in the field. He reiterated their preparations before the second Test in Brisbane were far from optimal, too.
“Five intense training sessions on the back of a difficult loss, I don’t think necessarily gave us our best chance,” he said. “I’ll wear that.”
This time around, there will be three training sessions in Adelaide on the back of a mini getaway in Noosa, on southern Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, where England spent plenty of time on the beach and, of course, managed to fit in a game of golf or two.
They should be fresher this time around, then. “Noosa for us was excellent,” McCullum added. “It was planned a year ago and it was quite an important period where some of the lessons we’ve learned over the last couple of weeks could settle.
“The freshness with which we come into this Test match will hopefully pay off.
Harry Brook bats in the nets as Zak Crawley awaits his turn (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“We came here with high hopes and expectations. We had a plan that we felt would give us the best chance of being successful. We haven’t quite executed that so far and Australia have seized those key moments, hence they sit 2-0 up.
“That doesn’t mean we throw that plan out. If anything, we need to chisel away at some of the things we haven’t got quite right, and make sure we’re still aware of that conviction in what we’re trying to achieve.
“These conditions should suit our style a bit better as well. This is probably more attuned to our best style of cricket.”
After an exceptional initial start to the series with the ball, England’s bowlers struggled in Perth and Brisbane. Yet, as with the batting, McCullum did not suggest a raft of changes is imminent, albeit he did talk up the wicket-taking abilities of Josh Tongue, who appears to be next in line should England shuffle their pack.
“I don’t think the blueprint is necessarily wrong; our execution hasn’t quite been there,” he said of England’s bowling. “We haven’t been able to operate consistently on the lengths that have been the most challenging on the surfaces we’ve been confronted with.
“That’ll be what we have to adapt to quickly here. What length gives us the most amount of danger with ball in hand and how are we able to control the game and the momentum so that we’re not passing up those opportunities to attack?”
England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and Josh Tongue at training at the Adelaide Oval (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
If England lose the Ashes in Adelaide, scrutiny will intensify over McCullum’s position, not least because England have centred their plans on this series for the past two years.
Should that happen, McCullum says he is relaxed about his future — and will not compromise his methods to try and save himself.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” he said when asked if his job could be under threat. “Professional sport isn’t easy. You do the job to the best of your ability, you have conviction in what you’re doing and whatever happens, happens.
“I certainly don’t coach to protect a job. I coach to get the best out of people and that’s the same with the skipper.
“We both go about that in the same way with the same level of conviction, and that won’t be changing this week just because the prize is at its highest.
“We’ll remain committed to what we’re doing in the same way and we’ll keep trying to build the confidence levels within the group. If we play our best cricket, we have a massive chance in this Test match.
“If we do that, then the narrative changes and the series momentum changes. That’s all in front of us to achieve in the next few days.”