Brendon McCullum wears disappointment lightly, yet even he admitted England have “got some room to improve” after India pinched the fifth Test at The Oval and levelled the series 2-2. Speaking a couple of hours after that breath-snatching six-run finish – India’s slimmest win by runs – the head coach offered a blunt assessment: the tourists “deserved” the result, simple as that.
England had led 2-1, were 301 for 3 chasing 374 on the final evening, and still contrived to lose 7 for 66. Add in a handful of dropped chances – six during India’s second-innings 396 – and the picture is fairly clear. “We didn’t catch very well in this game but have caught really well over the last few years,” McCullum said. “Sometimes dropped catches happen and one leads t –” he broke off, half-smiling, half-grimacing, an acknowledgement that the subject hardly needs labouring.
The end result is a third drawn series under Ben Stokes and McCullum’s charge, following last summer’s Ashes. No victory yet against India or Australia, which was not the plan when the pair first talked about shaking up England’s Test cricket back in 2022. Still, McCullum is determined to keep the rhetoric calm and the lessons practical.
“We’ll let this one sit, we’ll digest it,” he explained. “We’ll be able to pick out what has gone well then start to work out how we can keep improving so, when we do arrive out in Australia, we give ourselves a huge chance.”
That trip to Australia begins in Perth this November. Before then England’s Test specialists will disappear to county cricket or the Hundred, while the white-ball squad – McCullum oversees everything these days – faces South Africa and Ireland in September. There is, therefore, a window for sober analysis.
The coach’s starting point is physical. “It’s been a combative series, it’s taken its toll with injuries, some of the best players have gone home injured,” he noted, Joe Root’s sore finger and Ollie Pope’s side strain among the niggles. Mental toll counts too, not least for bowlers who toiled through long hot spells only for chances to be shelled.
From a tactical angle England’s field settings were occasionally conservative, particularly on the fourth afternoon when Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja added an enterprising 115. Yet McCullum was reluctant to pick at specifics in public. “You’re always learning any time you get to see guys having to dig deep and go to places they’ve maybe not been before,” he said. “There’s lots to pick out as we give ourselves time for this to digest and work out areas we can look to improve for our next challenge.”
One obvious theme is closing out matches. Twice in this series England put India under pressure only to let them wriggle free. At Old Trafford rain ruined what appeared a winning position; at The Oval they owned the game for large chunks then faltered when it mattered. “To sit here at 2-2, yes, you’re disappointed but you’re proud of the efforts,” McCullum insisted.
Players are making similar noises. James Anderson, still hungry at 43, called the loss “gutting but instructive”, while skipper Stokes told the dressing room it was “the kind of pain that sharpens you”. Former captain Alastair Cook, commentating for TMS, offered a measured external view. “England haven’t suddenly become a bad side; they’ve just been handed a reminder that elite cricket is decided by small moments.”
Statistically there were bright spots. Brook averaged 57, Root found rhythm after a lean start, and rookie spinner Tom Hartley finished with 18 wickets – handy figures for a debut summer. Yet drops, over-throws and curious lapses with the bat keep popping up. Analyst Nathan Leamon admitted the staff had tracked “a rising error count” as the series progressed.
Critics are already weighing up “Bazball’s” long-term merit. Andrew Miller, writing yesterday, argued that its legacy hinges on tangible series wins. McCullum did not bite. “Ultimately, I’m really proud of the guys and their efforts,” he said, before heading off to the team bus, leaving plenty for him and Stokes to sift through on the laptop over the next few weeks.
A hectic twelve-month Test cycle reaches its half-way point – India done, Australia next. England believe the raw ingredients are present; they simply need to tidy the execution. As McCullum put it, “We’re in the middle now, halfway through what we knew was going to be an unbelievable 12 months of Test cricket.” For all the frustration of The Oval, the wider project rolls on.
