After a less than inspiring Ashes series against Australia, followed by a somewhat better showing in the limited overs matches that followed in Sri Lanka, England did manage to reach the semi-finals of the World T20 Championship in February 2026.
The questions to be answered here are, is the team underachieving based on the talent available to them? are they prioritising the formats of the game that suit the players currently involved with the national team set-up? does the style of play allow the team to perform to its maximum capability? and do we have the correct people involved behind the scenes? We will take a look at all those aspects in this article.
Starting with the first question, England have some very talented individuals playing for them. Joe Root is one of the all-time greats of the game. He was one of the few highlights from an at times soul destroying Ashes series. Jofra Archer is a phenomenal bowling talent and he also showed that the injuries he has suffered over the past few years have not damaged his career as much as was feared at one stage. Jacob Bethell has shown what a promising player he is, across all formats of the game and Will Jacks has shown what a handy man he is to have around, especially in the fifty over and twenty over formats. Harry Brook and Ben Stokes have already shown what they are capable of and their undeniable ability means that England should always be in with a chance of winning any match when they are playing.
Unfortunately for Brook, who is captain of the limited overs teams, he was involved in an incident away from the field in New Zealand at the start of November 2025 which has somewhat tarnished his reputation and potentially impacted his subsequent performances which, other than a couple of good innings, have been subpar.
Moving on, are England prioritising the correct formats of the game? Many factors come into play here. These include finances and popularity amongst fans as well as the actual abilities of the players. Many traditionalists, myself included, prefer test cricket and this is the format that many of us want to see our national team thrive in over the other formats. I’ve already mentioned the ability of the players but, and this brings up the issue of playing style, are they capable of adapting the way they play to the circumstances that arise during a match. This latter comment is not just relevant to test cricket but all formats.
It seems that we lack a Plan B in certain situations. My opinion is that “bazball”, as it has been referred to by the media, is great to watch however, it is not always the most pragmatic way to approach the challenges they face. This seems to be particularly prevalent when they face the top nations such as India and Australia. Its weaknesses seem to have been exposed time after time in recent months.
This leads us to the final question; do we have the right people involved behind the scenes. I saw an interview with Brendon McCullum after the conclusion of the T20 World Championship where he faced heavy scrutiny from the media. He said that he felt he could still be successful in his role as Head Coach but needed some time away from the job now to relax and enjoy other aspects of his life whilst reflecting on the performances in New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and India.
His team, in my opinion, mirrors the way he played the game as an aggressive opening batsman. Whether this limits the ability of the England team to achieve what I, and many others, feel they should be capable of is, at best, open to conjecture. I’m not convinced that we need to totally move away from the style of play we currently see however, I do feel some adjustments are needed if we are to compete on a level playing field with the other top nations.
Time will tell whether the ECB ultimately decide that they say thank you to McCullum for his efforts and look for an alternative coach before the Ashes return to these shores in 2027.
