![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CRICKET-AUS-ENG-60_1763950295117_1763950325497.jpg\" "\\"Ben")
Ben Stokes talks to Brendon McCullum during a practice session at Perth Stadium in Perth.(AFP) <\/p>\nBrendon McCullum has watched England get humiliated inside two days in Perth, seen Bazball torn apart by former captains and pundits, and still refused to blink. In the middle of an eight-wicket defeat that left Australia 1-0 up in the ongoing Ashes, and the whole Bazball project under siege, the head coach\u2019s message was blunt: the style isn\u2019t the problem, and they are not changing it.<\/p>\n
Ben Stokes talks to Brendon McCullum during a practice session at Perth Stadium in Perth.(AFP) <\/p>\n
Instead of retreating into damage control, McCullum has doubled down on the philosophy that turned England from a drifting Test side into headline makers. \u201cI\u2019m pretty confident of the way we go about things,\u201d he said, insisting that the only way back in the Ashes is to lean harder into their identity, not run from it.<\/p>\n
McCullum stands tall in Bazball defence<\/strong><\/p>\n McCullum\u2019s defence of Bazball starts with the dressing-room itself. While talking in a media interaction, he said, \u201cThe last few years, we\u2019ve built a set-up which is connected, it\u2019s tight, and we play a style of cricket that we believe gives us our best chance,\u201d effectively telling critics that this is not a fad but the core of England\u2019s Test reset.<\/p>\n That is why any talk of ripping it up after one bad Test gets short shrift. \u201cIf we go away from that, then we\u2019re in trouble,\u201d McCullum warned. For him, abandoning the method now would be more dangerous than another collapse, because it would tear at the very belief that has powered England\u2019s revival under Stokes.<\/p>\n He is equally clear that \u201cplaying safe\u201d is off the table. \u201cThere\u2019s no point trying to play for safety per se,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to keep backing our approach and be strong, and keep believing in what we are doing. That will give us the best chance to bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n To supporters furious at the way England imploded from 65\/1 in the second innings before Travis Head<\/a>\u2019s 123 off 83 balls finished them off, McCullum\u2019s message is deliberately simple. \u201cI\u2019d say keep the faith,\u201d he urged. \u201cWe know what our best game is, what gives us our greatest opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n He also reminded everyone that this isn\u2019t the first time his side has taken a two-day punch. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in this situation before…. We played South Africa and lost in two days that first Test and came back and won that series 2-1,\u201d he pointed out, framing Perth as a setback within a larger pattern rather than a referendum on Bazball itself.<\/p>\n