‘Changing settled batting line-ups is not really our way’ – Brendon McCullum’s England unlikely to revamp combination for Adelaide Test

England haven’t enjoyed their time Down Under for the Ashes 2025-26, as the Australians have already crushed them on both occasions in the couple of Tests played so far. However, the English side is not wanting to reconsider their combination for the upcoming third Test at the Adelaide Oval. Their head coach Brendon McCullum has retained the confidence in the current line-up despite the losses.

McCullum is not at all dissatisfied with the kind of performances that the English batters have shown in the series, and over the last few seasons. He believes that the conditions in Adelaide will also provide a lot more assistance to their batting core, and thus, he does not intend to revamp anything that looks a bit ‘settled’.

“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. 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.” McCullum said as per ESPNcricinfo. 

“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,” McCullum added.

Despite the head coach’s statement, the problem seems much bigger than the dugout actually feels. Throughout the series, Joe Root is the only English batter who has shown some form with a hundred in Brisbane. Apart from him, only Zak Crawley and Harry Brook have managed a fifty-plus score. As a result, it will become fascinating to see if McCullum’s faith reaps rewards in the series going forward.

The third Test is to commence on December 17 at the Adelaide Oval, and in order to keep the series alive, the Ben Stokes-led side is in a dire need to win.