They have muscle memory from their last Ashes rebuild four years ago, against the same opponents, beginning on the same ground. Then, they played some exhilarating cricket, the best of the Bazball era.
Just as the management remains the same, so too do most of the players. Nine of England’s 12 for this week were in the Ashes squad. Archer and Brydon Carse would also have been at Lord’s had they been available.
The lack of upheaval supports the theory England had their best players in Australia, they just got the approach all wrong. Under-prepared, under-drilled, and weak under pressure.
The wider frustration is that the most egregious defeats under Stokes and McCullum have come through mistakes that were self-inflicted.
Against New Zealand in Wellington in 2023, then against Australia at Edgbaston and Lord’s later the same year. Against India in Rajkot and Sri Lanka at The Oval, both in 2024. Then again against India at The Oval last summer, and against Australia in Perth, from which their Ashes campaign never recovered.
One reason for the regular bouts of self-destruction could be an environment that has been light on attention to detail, and steps have been taken to smarten up the act.
The backroom staff has been beefed up, with Sarah Taylor enlisted to sort the fielding and Troy Cooley adding support to the fast bowlers. Michael Yardy and Will Gidman were at the Loughborough training camp last week and have helped with the build-up to the Test.
New national selector Marcus North has immediately taken on more responsibility than Luke Wright, relaying selection decisions to players – a job previously done by McCullum.
A team chef has joined England this week, possibly putting an end to the days of performance athletes waiting in the hotel lobby for their takeaway to arrive. The curfew introduced after the Ashes remains.
England have made good on their promise for McCullum to speak publicly more often – four times in the past week.
He has admitted he overestimated how well his players would deal with the pressure of the Ashes, yet has to marry that with his determination to remove pressure from the dressing room.
McCullum runs an “informal” environment that suited the players he inherited: experienced Test cricketers who needed freedom after being stifled by Covid and a long winless run.
Now he must decide whether younger, less experienced players require informality or more rigid structures as they learn to play the longer format of the game.
Four years ago, McCullum swaggered into Lord’s and breathed life into an ailing England team. They caught a New Zealand team on the decline and rode the wave, capturing imaginations as they went.
England now face a different challenge, of rebuilding the shattered confidence of a team scarred by their walloping down under, against a New Zealand team that could very easily pose huge problems.
On a wet and murky week at Lord’s, what happens if the home side find themselves three down inside the first hour on Thursday morning?
This is the beginning of a McCullum era that might never have been. The initial deal he signed in 2022 would have expired by now had he not signed an extension in 2024. Plenty will say he is lucky not to have had his contract torn up and last week, he did not dismiss the idea of signing another when this term expires in the autumn of 2027.
England are about to find out what happens after it’s all gone wrong. It was McCullum who once said: “If you can’t change a man, change the man.” England didn’t change McCullum, so will find out if McCullum has changed.
In the early days of his time in charge, England spoke of ‘the Bank of Baz’ – you get out what you put in.
The bank is in serious debt. Repayment must start now.
