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Healy: McCullum has to go if Poms lose big this Ashes
SEN • November 27th, 2025 11:11 am
Australian cricket great Ian Healy thinks that Brendon McCullum will be sacked as England coach if things go terribly wrong for them this Ashes series.
While McCullum is contracted until the end of 2027, Healy thinks that the ECB will need to make some significant changes if they lose by a big margin, given that everything they’ve been aiming to do since he took over in 2022 has been targeted towards this series.
Down 0-1 already, if things continue in this fashion and changes have to be made, Healy would move on McCullum before captain Ben Stokes, who is also contracted for two more years, due to how unwilling the side is to listen to those who have came before them.
“The coach would go first before the captain because he's a world-class player,” Healy said on SENQ Breakfast.
“He (Stokes) will be performing, I'm sure, even if they are going down that badly.
“So, I think the coach has got to go (if this continues) because they've just outright flat batted any advice from others that know the history of the game and what you should try in certain conditions and moments of games.
“They've taken it upon themselves to do it this way, and if it doesn't work, they will be in trouble.”
A vocal critic of how England went about their batting in their first Test loss in Perth, Healy thinks that a 1-4, 0-4 or 0-5 loss could mean the end of ‘BazBall’, a scoreline that wouldn’t surprise historically, given the visitors haven’t won a Test down under in their last 16 attempts.
“If you want to play this way, you'd want to get better at it. You’re up against the conditions, a good Australian bowling attack and history,” Healy added.
“You have to have a bit of ticker and a bit of common sense in amongst what they're doing. If not, they're going to get hurt.
“If they go down badly, whether that's 4-1, 4-0 or 5-0, look out.
“It's quite incredible that they are dismissing so many well-credentialed people. Michael Vaughan came out and did it in Australia.
“The last time they were in Australia, they gave themselves a month of preparation, not two weeks on a club wicket.”
The second Test at the Gabba starts on Thursday, December 4.
