England have been under fire from former players and pundits after their demoralising defeat at the Gabba, with particular pressure building on head coach Brendon McCullum.
An eight-wicket defeat in Brisbane meant England went 2-0 down in the Ashes series after a total of six days of cricket. Serious questions have been raised of both their bowling and batting lineups, with four collapses in four innings during the series so far and a lacklustre show with the ball in Australia's first innings at the Gabba.
Writing in The Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott said: "England talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. With this sort of batting and bowling they couldn’t win an egg cup, let alone the Ashes urn. Ben Stokes said England had a blueprint. They had been planning this tour for four years and know what they are doing. What a load of bulls---. We can’t believe anything Ben or his team say. None of them want to listen to anyone outside of their own camp.
"They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game."
Speaking on BBC Test Match Special after the match, Michael Vaughan said: "I worry about this psychological damage of this last two days," he said. "Not just for the batters, but particularly the bowlers, who had so much time out there and they just didn't look like they were going to get wickets."
🗣️ "These players never learn from their mistakes.."
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 8, 2025
Joe Root is the only member of England’s top seven averaging more than 30 after the first two Tests of the 2025/26 Ashes.#AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/Cxv9ThWC9Q
On reacting to the defeat on the Wisden Cricket podcast, Mark Butcher said: “They've been beaten by a team with a stand-in captain, stand-in bowling attack, stand-in opening batter. And they've been beaten by old school determination, technique, hard work and discipline. The self-expression, the aggression, the vibes, and the talent, which is undoubted in the England side, has been beaten by basic Test match cricket."
Former England fast-bowler Steve Harmison, speaking on TalkSport: "We've got a top seven brainwashed by Brendon McCullum in a way that will never ever work consistently because these players never learn from their mistakes."
Post-match interviews from McCullum added more fuel to an already burning fire, when he told the media: "If anything, we [England] were over-prepared."
In response to McCullum's interview, former England pacer Darren Gough wrote on X – "Over-prepared my arse" – while Jason Gillespie wrote: "I’m not sure if any coach in the history of professional sport has been given the amount of rope Brendon McCullum had…."
Writing for BBC Sport, Jonathan Agnew said: "To me, the Bazball message is dead. That does not mean the personnel has to change or regimes need to be swept aside – those decisions will come at the end of the series – but it means there has been a realisation by England that the way in which they play their Test cricket must be altered."
England have nine days off before the third Test in Adelaide, which, if they lose, will seal their fourth consecutive Ashes series loss in Australia.
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