Captain Ben Stokes says he can’t imagine “anyone else” replacing head coach Brendan McCullum despite England’s Ashes series defeat in Australia.
Stokes and McCullum joined forces in 2022, with the tour considered a defining moment of their leadership, only for England to lose each of their first three Tests and abandon the series.
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England won the fourth Test in Melbourne, their first in this country for almost 15 years, and will conclude the series in Sydney on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).
Stokes and McCallum are contracted until 2027, and both have expressed a desire to stay on beyond this tour.
While Stokes remains England’s best leader and may be given the chance to stay at home over the summer, the positions of McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key are likely to come under closer scrutiny.
“There’s no doubt that Brendan and I are the right people to continue doing this in the near future,” Stokes said.
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Asked whether he and New Zealander McCullum would form a partnership, Stokes replied: “I can’t see anyone else who can take this team to greater heights from where it is now.”
This latest defeat continues England’s poor run of form in the Ashes series in Australia – their victory in 2010-11 being their only win in the country since 1986.
Defeats for England tend to signal a radical change in management – Stokes and McCullum were brought in after a 4-0 defeat four years ago.
“We haven’t won here since 2010-11 and a few things have happened since that series because we thought people needed to change some things, but it hasn’t really worked, has it?” Stokes said.
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“There are a lot of people sitting above me. The past Ashes tours didn’t go well. But if you do what we did four years ago, we end up back in the same situation.”
McCullum will lead England in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next month and a decision on his future is unlikely to be made before the tournament is over.
All-rounder Stokes said he would “like to” be consulted on any potential changes to England’s hierarchy.
“Nobody knows if that’s going to happen, but we’re all very keen to keep doing what we’re doing,” Stokes said.
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England won 10 of their first 11 Tests under Stokes and McCullum, but their results have been mixed since the first outing.
England have won 16 of their last 34 Tests, lost 16 and drawn two of them. They are yet to win a five-match Test series against Australia or India.
McCallum also took over control of England’s white-ball team at the beginning of 2025. Since then, England have won just four of 10 Tests, with Zimbabwe expected to win comfortably at Trent Bridge in May.
Explaining the reasons for England’s poor performance in the Ashes, Key pointed to the white-ball series in New Zealand ahead of this tour as a hindrance in Australia’s preparations. The former England and Kent batsman said he was unwilling to “cancel” the game against the Black Caps.
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But Stokes doesn’t think McCullum’s dual role will have a detrimental effect on the Test team.
“He’s got two jobs to do now,” Stokes said. “This has not affected our relationship with the testing team.”
England have named a 12-man squad for the final Test, which includes spinner Shoaib Bashir and seamer Matthew Potts.
The tourists will make at least one change to their XI for the match in Melbourne after pace bowler Gus Atkinson was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Bashir has not played since July after suffering a broken finger against India in the third Test at Lord’s and then was ignored for the first four Ashes Tests.
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Durham’s Potts has been waiting for more than a year since his last appearance against New Zealand in Hamilton in December 2024.
“He’s always been around,” said Stokes of Potts. “Obviously he’s had a good start to his Test career and he finds himself in a slightly different position now in the team and the squad.
“After the disappointing news last week about what happened to Gus, there was an opportunity for someone to come in this week.”
Australia are likely to make two changes to their squad. Todd Murphy will likely be a specialist spinner, but seamer Jhye Richardson may be sacrificed.
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During Friday’s training, Bo Webster worked in the gully position usually occupied by Cameron Green, a sign that Australia may be replacing their all-rounder.