McCullum reaffirms faith in England ahead of Adelaide Test
Head coach Brendon McCullum remains confident that England can mount a comeback in the Ashes.
England head into the third Test in Adelaide with their backs against the wall, trailing Australia 2-0 in the Ashes series.
With a 10-day gap between the second and third Tests, England’s think tank has had plenty to consider, but changes to the batting order are unlikely, with Brendon McCullum standing firmly behind his batters and hinting at retaining the same lineup.
"From our point of view, we've had a top seven now for a period of time and we've been reasonably successful with it,” McCullum said ahead of training on Sunday in Adelaide.
“These conditions should suit the style of batters that we've got as well. We know we haven't got enough runs so far in this series. We've been in positions where we could have and made some mistakes, and that can happen at times.
"But for us to go on and win this series, it's not about throwing out what has been successful for us over the last few years.
"It's about having more conviction. It's about making sure we have our plans and our disciplines around it just screwed down a touch more. Making sure when we walk out there, we have utter belief in what we are capable of achieving.
"Knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing settled batting line-ups is not really our way."
The visitors have suffered eight-wicket defeats in both Tests and while Ben Stokes and his side had their chances in each game, they failed to seize the key moments, a shortcoming McCullum himself highlighted in his frank assessment of the team.
“We knew when we came here that we had to win three tests to win the series. The fact we're 2-0 down has made it harder on ourselves, but that will stop the belief that you have within the dressing room,” McCullum added.
“I don't think we've been anywhere near our best so far in these last two tests. While the margins look huge in terms of the scoreboard, I think we've certainly had our moments in those first two test matches where we could have been a lot better and we may have been able to put ourselves in a stronger winning position.”
Despite being 2-0 down, England have shown no shortage of effort or edge even in losing positions, something Jofra Archer epitomised during his heated exchange with Steve Smith in the second Test as Australia chased a modest target of 65.
McCullum was encouraged by what he saw from Archer and despite the 30-year-old managing just three wickets across two matches, the head coach threw his full support behind the pacer ahead of the third Test.
“Jofra’s good. He's saying what he wants, but if you mope around by 75 mile an hour, you know, in that last innings, then the narrative will be very different, right? In the end, the skipper asked our boys to not mope around, not feel sorry for yourself,” McCullum recalled about the ending of the second Test.
“I have no problem with him stepping up to that level. Jofra will be no different in this test match when he gets the chance. I think he's been really good. He hasn't had a lot of luck so far. He's all in.”
The third Test begins on 17 December in Adelaide.
