What form is England Test Cricket Team in when they ‘shoot after the stars against India and Australia? | Cricket News

“When we undertook a project like this, it wasn’t about to settle down on ‘well’.”

No, ‘Good’ is not enough for Brendon McCullum, where England head coach wants his test team to “shoot for the stars” in what will be a legacy-defining nine months.

Hors d’oeuvre comes in the form of Zimbabwe, at Trent Bridge from Thursday Live Sky SportsBut the most important courses are India at home from June 20 and the ash in Australia from November 21st.

Fans are already looking forward to these tongue weights, but for England there has been a period of looking back, of reflection, by finding out how to connect again with these fans.

Main coach McCullum feels that report may have been lost with the team that is prone to chucking away promising positions (2023 Ashes Draw and 4-1 defeat in India in early 2024 comes to mind) and also talk a lot of drift in the press.

There seems to be an acceptance that words and wins – something England have been accused of having a laissez -faire attitude to – doing something. Less hokum, more “humility” is the new approach.

Ben Stokes asks for his team to “dominate in that situation”, while McCullum wants the fans “on the trip”.

Still, many fans will still wonder if the puzzles are completely in front of two such Marquee series. Zak Crawley and Spinner Shoaib Bashir, especially.

Are Crawley and Bashir the right pieces of the puzzle?

There has been no backtracking from England about it with McCullum steadfastly in his faith in the couple – at least externally.

Despite Crawley on average, an average of 8.66 with bats in New Zealand in December and only passed fifty once in 14 test knocks and Bashir on average over 40 with the ball after hard trips in Pakistan and New Zealand and then struggled at the start of the county championship season while he was on loan to Glaman from Somerset.

Instead, McCullum focuses on their plus points. These include Crawley’s success versus Australia – an opposition, he average 43 against – and India, and only Jasprit Bumrah and Gus Atkinson, who take more testwickets in 2024 than Lofty Off -Spinner Bashir.

McCullum said of Crawley, whose total test average is 30.51 from 53 games: “Zak has been short after running too late and is the first to put his hand up, but we are convinced that his top-end game is as good as anyone in the world against the best resistance.

“We have always said that his role is to go out there and try to win matches. When he gets started, there are few who can put opposition teams under pressure that he can.”

At Bashir, the main coach added: “Statistically, there have been times when he has been excellent, and other times when it has not worked, but his ceiling is so high and we will continue to invest in him. He has the attributes of what is ahead of us.”

Having the attributes is one thing – and England really likes bashirs over spin from a high release point – but delivering them is another and if Crawley can’t get back to scoring running and Bashir Stutters with the ball there are opportunities. The Uber-talented Jacob Bethell in Crawley’s case and potentially Liam Dawson in Bashirs.

Another concern may be something that can be a great strength – bowlers capable of operating at 90 km / h or more.

It’s a tempting prospect of thinking about England that has Atkinson – who scooped 54 wickets in a fantastic debut test – Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Olly Stone and more accessible at the same time, but injuries have ever bitten.

Tongue is the only one of these merchants that fully fits with Carse just returning to Durham and the others mentioned on the list above that is currently on the sidelines. Archer the latest being beaten down with a thumb problem that threatens to postpone a test return.

Why England can beat India and Australia

There are plenty of reasons to feel that England can beat India and then win in Australia – and not only because India has lost the retired Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and Australia is an aging side that has seen Marnus Labuschann’s race dry up.

Ben Duckkett has been excellent as a test opener since returning to the team in 2022 – if sometimes a small dft with his choice of words – Joe Root is one of the best of all time, Harry Brook looks to be on that path and wicketkeeper -batter Jamie Smith has the gears, as his predecessor in this role, Ben Foakes, is missing.

Inspirational Captain Stokes is back after his second hamstring injury of five months with a new round of recognition that, despite plenty of evidence against the opposite over the years, he is not actually Superman and has to control his body accordingly.

The skipper, who can play a complete role with bats and ball, could be the biggest ash plug of all.

Plus, in Sam Cook, debuting against Zimbabwe, England can have a man in all seasons. One with a remarkable record at home, but also someone who enjoys the Kookaburra ball and could be a real threat with that seed in the ash. There may be lots of names in the little black book about his.

If England can also throw their unwanted penchant for losing the last test of a series – it happened continuously against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand in 2024 – it will go a long way to delight fans and maybe pull off some older victories.

An increase to No. 2 in the ICC string – only Australia is upon them now – shows that England is actually ‘good’.

Over the next nine months, they want to become the world # 1 and prove that they are good enough to beat two cricketing juggernauts.

It’s time to shoot after the stars. Humbly, of course.

See England’s four-day test match against Zimbabwe Live On Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event From 1 p.m. 10 Thursday (11 am first ball). Stream cricket and more with now.

England men’s test this summer ☀

All games at. 11 UK and Ireland; Everyone lives on Sky Sports

• vs zimbabwe: Thursday 22 May -Sunday on May 25 – Trent Bridge
• VS India: Friday 20. June -tuesday 24 June – Headingley
• VS India: Wednesday 2nd July -Sunday 6th July – Edgbaston
• VS India: Thursday 10th July -Monday July 14 – Lord’s
• VS India: Wednesday, July 23 -Sunday, July 27 – Old Trafford
• VS India: Thursday 31 July -Monday 4th August – KIA OVAL

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26 🏏

All times UK and Ireland

• First test: Friday 21. November -tuesday 25. November (2.30) – Optus Stadium, Perth
• Second Test: Thursday 4 December -Monday 8 December (4.30) – Gabba, Brisbane
• Third Test: Wednesday, December 17 -Sunday 21 December (12 o’clock) – Adelaide oval
• Fourth Test: Thursday, December 25 -Monday 29 December (11.30 pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth Test: Sunday 4th January -Tursday 8th January (11.30 pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground