On the eve of the first Test of the five-match Ashes series at the Perth Stadium, Brendon McCullum, the head coach of England, remarked that he and his team have been building towards this moment for the last
couple of years. After taking charge of England’s Test setup in the summer of 2022, former New Zealand captain has changed the very face of the team alongside captain Ben Stokes, improving their results by leaps and bounds especially with their aggressive batting intent called the Bazball.
Notably, England haven’t won a Test match in Australia in the Ashes for the better part of the last 14 years, losing the last three series of five matches each with a scoreline of 5-0, 4-0, and 4-0. With that, the pressure of expectation on the current group of English players is huge, not only to firstly set the record straight in terms of winning an Ashes Test in Australia but also find a way to regain the Ashes after a gap of nearly a decade.
It is a series that could define teams, the people and players within it: Brendon McCullum
While speaking to former England cricketer Phil Tufnell on behalf of BBC Sport, Brendon McCullum was quoted as saying, “There's nothing bigger than what we're about to come into. This team has been together for a good couple of years and we have been building towards this moment. It is the biggest stage and it is the brightest lights. It is a series that could define teams, the people and players within it. That's OK.”
“You know you're ready, you know you have the game to compete at this level. Stay together, play the style you have become accustomed to and we'll see in a couple of months where we land,” he added. McCullum also stated that the Ashes will define the progress England have made over the past couple of years, it will be “huge” for Ben Stokes to captain the side to a Test series win in Australia.
England’s 12-man squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir
Australia’s Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
