England will limp home from Australia after a humbling 4-1 Ashes defeat but appear likely to stick with the regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, who have vowed to learn lessons from a painful tour.

The tourists arrived in November with genuine hopes of a first Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11 but were 3-0 down inside 11 days of action, with only pride left to play for.

Despite their humiliation, it appears director of cricket Rob Key, coach McCullum and skipper Stokes are all set to stay in their posts.

Getting rid of McCullum would be especially complicated as he is also in charge of England’s white-ball teams, with the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starting next month.

England do not play Test cricket again until they host New Zealand in June.

Stokes, speaking after England lost the fifth and final Test in Sydney by five wickets on Thursday, said he wanted to carry on as captain, while accepting there were “wrongs to put right”.

McCullum agreed there were “areas to improve” but said he would not be told what to do.

The extent to which the former New Zealand captain is prepared to alter his ultra-attacking approach could be key to his long-term future.

England have come under fire for perceived inadequate preparation, a lack of specialist coaching and their off-field behaviour.

As soon as the series was over, England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould announced a “thorough review” had been launched to get to the bottom of the Ashes debacle.

The brutal truth is that England’s aggressive “Bazball” style was exposed by a far-from-vintage Australia, who were able to field injured skipper Pat Cummins for just one match while fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood missed the whole series.

Few England players will return home with their reputations enhanced after numerous batting collapses, embarrassing failures in the field and some toothless bowling.

‘Sold a lie’

England great Geoffrey Boycott, an Ashes-winning opening batsman in Australia, was scathing about England’s approach.

“Brendon McCullum, Rob Key and Ben Stokes sold a lie for three years,” Boycott wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.

Boycott added: “McCullum’s philosophy is do your own thing. Play without a care in the world. Express yourselves and if you get out, no problem, it’s not your fault.

“Nobody tells them off, there is no accountability, and nobody gets dropped so they just keep doing the same daft things.”

England set out for Australia armed with a pace attack they believed could seriously unsettle the opposition.

But part-time off-spinner Will Jacks played as many Tests in the series as injury-prone fast bowlers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer combined.

Fledgling off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, groomed to feature in the Ashes, did not play a single Test.

Jacob Bethell’s superb hundred — his first in first-class cricket — in Sydney was a sign of both the benefits and drawbacks of England’s approach.

Plucked from relative obscurity for an impressive debut campaign in New Zealand two years ago, the Warwickshire all-rounder was denied valuable development time by being repeatedly rested by England during the 2025 domestic season.

Nevertheless, the 22-year-old left-hander — only selected for the last two Ashes Tests — demonstrated a maturity far beyond several of his more experienced team-mates with a masterful 154 in Sydney.

“That is entertainment,” Justin Langer, a former Australia opener and coach, told TNT Sports. “Not running down and hitting it up in the air and saying ‘That’s how we play.'”

When they joined forces in 2022, McCullum and Stokes revived an England side that had been struggling, winning 10 of their first 11 Tests at the helm.

But Thursday’s loss was England’s 14th defeat in their past 28 Tests. They have not won a major five-match series against Australia or India, home or away, since 2018.

“We’ve started losing more, we’ve not won the big series we want to,” admitted Stokes.

“This one in particular, I think we’ve got to be very honest with ourselves as a team, that we have done a bit of damage to ourselves.”

Published – January 10, 2026 04:28 am IST

File photo of England head coach Brendon McCullum.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Australia captain Steve Smith with Travis Head after winning the first Ashes Test against England in Perth on November 22, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP