Updated January 10th 2026, 10:04 IST

Experts and fans of the English cricket team won't forget the outcome of Ashes 2025-26 for a very long time. They have nobody but themselves to blame. English fans and experts were not just speaking, they were blabbering on about how weak the Aussies were as compared to England and their 'Bazball' facade, but Australia replied back in style and the rest is now history. England fans even went on to call the India series an Ashes warmup; unfortunately, they even failed to win that, let alone The Ashes.
Australia have now defeated England 4-1 and English cricket is in shambles, in dire need of a reboot. The World Test Championship dream is slowly fading away, but the onus is now on the English team management and the Head Coach Brendon McCullum to course correct.
Brendon McCullum finds himself surrounded in a perfect storm of scrutiny after England's inevitable Ashes debacle. England crumbled so badly 'Down Under' that their only achievement on this tour was a Test victory on Australian soil after 15 years. What surprised people even more was how Brendon McCullum took offense to ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain's question on the possibilities of him being willing to change.
The ex-England skipper has now reacted to the incident and has said that England do not have an excuse to lose to Australia, especially when Steve Smith and their men played the entire series without their best XI.
"McCullum took umbrage when I asked him if he was willing to change. He has always been prepared to evolve, but whether he means it will be key now. He is right to have conviction in his methodology, but there also needs to be a realisation that he and England need to adapt at times," wrote Nasser Hussain in his column for The Athletic.
This might be the consecutive second time England misses the marquee World Test Championship final. England's numbers are nowhere close to being promising either. From the 10 Test matches that they have played so far, England have managed to win only three and have lost six. They are in the seventh spot of the WTC 2027 points table with a PCT of 31.67.
Published January 10th 2026, 10:04 IST