England must handle Ashes fallout, McCullum says after 4-1 defeat

England's head coach Brendon McCullum acknowledged the team must face the consequences of their poor Ashes tour in Australia. McCullum kept his position after a review and will lead England into their first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday.

England lost the Ashes 4-1 despite having what many saw as a strong chance to reclaim the series against a weakened Australian team. McCullum told BBC Sport: "There was huge hopes and ambitions for success down in Australia and we didn't get it right. We had our chance, we didn't take it and we got beat."

The defeat hurt players, their families, staff, and supporters who travelled to Australia, McCullum said. "Now you have got to handle a little bit of the backlash of what has happened since," he added.

McCullum said England can restore confidence by winning major matches and series. He admitted he overestimated how prepared his team was for the pressure of playing away in an Ashes series. "I felt when we got down there we were ready for that. In hindsight, we weren't," he told BBC Sport.

During the tour, England's batting collapsed repeatedly through their own mistakes. The bowling lacked focus and fielding was poor. Several off-field incidents drew criticism, including vice-captain Harry Brook being punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and the team taking a boozy holiday in Noosa during the series.

McCullum said: "I always thought what was going to separate success and failure in Australia was how you handled the pressure, because the pressure was at its absolute highest. I got it wrong in terms of assessing our readiness to handle the pressure."

England's approach under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, known as 'Bazball', initially brought success with 10 wins in their first 11 Tests. Since then, however, the team has won only 16 of their last 33 Tests and failed to win five-Test series against Australia or India.

McCullum said the team must treat the Australia experience as a lesson rather than just accept defeat. "The lesson we were taught down in Australia needs to help galvanise us moving forward, otherwise it was just a beating and incredible disappointment," he said.

In response to criticisms about their approach, England has added extra coaches, imposed a midnight curfew, and hired a full-time chef. McCullum defended his methods, saying his way of operating "is not going to be everyone's cup of tea" but that he has firm conviction in how teams should be built.

For the New Zealand Test, England will debut opener Emilio Gay from Durham, replacing Zak Crawley. Jacob Bethell returns after a finger injury to bat at number three. Ollie Robinson has been recalled after two years away and will likely join Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson in the pace attack. Jofra Archer is not yet fit following his stint at the Indian Premier League.

McCullum is considering swapping the batting positions of captain Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. Stokes, who averaged just 18 during the Ashes, has batted at number six for almost his entire captaincy. Smith struggled in Australia but has started the season well for Surrey and averages 44 at number six in his Test career. "Both are brilliant players when they're at their best," McCullum said. "We're not quite yet decided, but more leaning towards it."

McCullum's contract with England runs until autumn 2027. He said he has not considered extending it, meaning his final Test series in charge will be the home Ashes next summer. England have not held the Ashes trophy for almost a decade and have not won a five-match series since 2018.