![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_299947550.jpg\")
England have stuck with Brendon McCullum (left) but appointed a new selector in Marcus North (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\nAn 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 \u00ad\u2013 and the arrival of the Australians for the Ashes \u2013 and things will be very, very different.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 and the pressure on Ben Stokes and his players will be huge.<\/p>\n
It will not only be the defining series of Stokes\u2019 captaincy but perhaps a sliding doors moment when the public decide whether or not this is a sport to take seriously any more.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how damaging last winter in Australia was. It wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t appear to be taking things seriously themselves.<\/p>\n
England have stuck with Brendon McCullum (left) but appointed a new selector in Marcus North (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n
People are used to England\u2019s 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\u2019t prepare properly and they didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
The mid-series knees-up in Noosa<\/a>, other reports of excessive drinking and partying and most damagingly Harry Brook\u2019s late-night encounter<\/a> with a Wellington doorman on the tour of New Zealand that preceded the Ashes \u2013 and the attempt to cover it up \u2013 damaged the team\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n Following what we were told was an extensive review, the disconnect with fans was exacerbated by the England & Wales Cricket Board\u2019s decision to keep faith with the architects\u00ad of that nightmare Australasian winter \u2013 coach Brendon McCullum and director of men\u2019s cricket Rob Key.<\/p>\n Talk of the team tweaking their approach<\/a> has come from McCullum in his numerous media appearances over the past week. But most noticeably there\u2019s been a tightening of the ECB\u2019s access to players at the start of this summer \u2013 with nobody other than McCullum and Stokes speaking to independent media in the immediate prelude to this week\u2019s first Test against New Zealand at Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n Normally there would be opportunities for debutant Emilio Gay or the recalled Ollie Robinson to share their thoughts with fans.<\/p>\n Not this week. Not now. Not after a winter in which the ECB were burned by strident, revealing reporting during and after the Ashes.<\/p>\n Control is the name of the game, hence McCullum\u2019s repeated appearances. He is scheduled to speak in place of Stokes after the first Test as well. Why? \u201cThe temperature\u2019s been a bit hot of late,\u201d the coach said on Tuesday at Lord\u2019s. \u201cWe 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\u2019re ready for that. We can wear some of the other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n This may look like media navel-gazing, and it is. But the point is that independent media \u2013 newspapers, TV and radio \u2013 are a conduit between the team and the fans. The ECB\u2019s own media channels are not an honest broker when it comes to this. And the supporters know it.<\/p>\n This is only one foundation stone that cricket\u2019s popularity is built upon. But a losing team and a lack of access to players does not help grow a sport. It kills it.<\/p>\n It was bad enough losing Test cricket from free-to-air TV after the 2005 Ashes<\/a>. It needs the oxygen of publicity \u2013 both good and bad \u2013 to survive and thrive.<\/p>\n Things will come to a head next summer when the Australians are here. England know this too and it\u2019s why Stokes cut a no-nonsense figure when he spoke at Lord\u2019s on Wednesday.<\/p>\n![\"England's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_299926179.jpg\")
Stokes was in a no-nonsense mood on Tuesday (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n