An under-pressure England team are lucky they will largely fly under the radar during this most pivotal of home summers given much of it will clash with a football World Cup. But give it a year – and the arrival of the Australians for the Ashes – and things will be very, very different.
By then cricket will take centre stage again as England begin their quest to win back the urn for the first time in 12 years – and the pressure on Ben Stokes and his players will be huge.
It will not only be the defining series of Stokes’ captaincy but perhaps a sliding doors moment when the public decide whether or not this is a sport to take seriously any more.
That’s how damaging last winter in Australia was. It wasn’t only a 4-1 series defeat but a moment when the English sporting public finally lost patience with a team that, from the outside, didn’t appear to be taking things seriously themselves.
England have stuck with Brendon McCullum (left) but appointed a new selector in Marcus North (Photo: Getty)People are used to England’s Test team losing, especially in Australia. What stung the most was the perception that this team blew a golden opportunity to beat an ageing Australia primarily because they didn’t prepare properly and they didn’t care.
The mid-series knees-up in Noosa, other reports of excessive drinking and partying and most damagingly Harry Brook’s late-night encounter with a Wellington doorman on the tour of New Zealand that preceded the Ashes – and the attempt to cover it up – damaged the team’s reputation.
Following what we were told was an extensive review, the disconnect with fans was exacerbated by the England & Wales Cricket Board’s decision to keep faith with the architects of that nightmare Australasian winter – coach Brendon McCullum and director of men’s cricket Rob Key.
Talk of the team tweaking their approach has come from McCullum in his numerous media appearances over the past week. But most noticeably there’s been a tightening of the ECB’s access to players at the start of this summer – with nobody other than McCullum and Stokes speaking to independent media in the immediate prelude to this week’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.
The sound of bat on ball in the Lord's nets Emilio Gay, bringing your Wednesday dose of ASMR pic.twitter.com/p1bYzWAtjy
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 3, 2026Normally there would be opportunities for debutant Emilio Gay or the recalled Ollie Robinson to share their thoughts with fans.
Not this week. Not now. Not after a winter in which the ECB were burned by strident, revealing reporting during and after the Ashes.
Control is the name of the game, hence McCullum’s repeated appearances. He is scheduled to speak in place of Stokes after the first Test as well. Why? “The temperature’s been a bit hot of late,” the coach said on Tuesday at Lord’s. “We want our boys to really focus on the next couple of days, drilling down on the exact game they are ready to face against New Zealand and make sure they’re ready for that. We can wear some of the other stuff.”
This may look like media navel-gazing, and it is. But the point is that independent media – newspapers, TV and radio – are a conduit between the team and the fans. The ECB’s own media channels are not an honest broker when it comes to this. And the supporters know it.
This is only one foundation stone that cricket’s popularity is built upon. But a losing team and a lack of access to players does not help grow a sport. It kills it.
It was bad enough losing Test cricket from free-to-air TV after the 2005 Ashes. It needs the oxygen of publicity – both good and bad – to survive and thrive.
Things will come to a head next summer when the Australians are here. England know this too and it’s why Stokes cut a no-nonsense figure when he spoke at Lord’s on Wednesday.
Stokes was in a no-nonsense mood on Tuesday (Photo: Getty)In no mood to elaborate on the team’s mooted change of approach or rake over the winter, he simply said winning is the only thing that matters right now.
“That’s the most important thing,” he said. “Words are very easy to say but we’re at the point now where it doesn’t really matter what we say. Everything will be based on whether we win or we lose.
“You’ve pretty much heard everything you probably need to hear. It’s now about going out there, winning games of cricket and that’s hopefully where we’ll do the rest of our talking. Words are done now.”
When Stokes first took over the captaincy in 2022 alongside McCullum being appointed coach, the results – and the thrilling nature of the cricket – saw the country fall back in love with the team again. Cricket will always have its hardcore support. But tapping into the wider zeitgeist is what propels it to its rightful place at the second-biggest team sport in the country.
England, this England, can get back there pretty quickly if results this summer are good and they can finally end their Ashes hoodoo next year.
It’s there for the taking. Stokes knows it. But first they need to start winning again. Beginning this week at Lord’s. Otherwise the alternative is unthinkable.
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