Absolute Ashes: Panesar’s damning assessment, Harmison believes McCullum’s job is over, ‘emotional’ Stokes on England future

The fight for the Ashes is over with England being embarrassed by their Australian rivals all winter long.

Following disastrous Tests in Perth and Brisbane, Ben Stokes and co fought hard in Adelaide but still couldn’t muster a win, being beaten by 82 runs to end the battle for the urn.

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Test matches in Melbourne and Sydney will follow and England will need to show some fight to avoid a complete whitewash Down Under.

The examination into where it’s all gone wrong can now begin, and some tough discussions will be in store for Stokes, Brendon McCullum and England’s coaching hierarchy.

Here at talkSPORT.com, our latest ‘Absolute Ashes’ column brings you all the latest news, views, analysis and moments you may have missed from Australia following the conclusion of the Third Test.

End of McCullum?

Steve Harmison has slammed England’s lack of respect and arrogance and believes Brendon McCullum will now pay the price for their Ashes debacle.

He told talkSPORT’s Ashes Inquest: “I mean, this team has been very, very good to watch; they’re a very good team and a great bunch of lads.

“They’re a likable bunch and they’re an entertaining watch, but they have looked down at people at times, there has been an air of arrogance about them.

“There has been ‘it’s our way or the highway’. They’ve talked down to former players and scoffed at former players.

“They’ve had no respect for county cricket and that’s cost them.

“They’ve gone over to Australia and said ‘we’ll do it our way, do it the way we’ve done it on other tours where we’ve been successful’. But this is the Ashes.

“We’re going to hear Brendon McCullum say ‘yeah, these the last two days are the best two days we’ve been on this tour.’ Yes, because day 10 and day 11 of the tour are the time when you were ready to start playing cricket. 

“Your team was ready to start playing cricket on day 10 and day 11, and England, halfway through day 11, have lost the Ashes.

“I think that’s why, when all is said and done, Brendon McCullum for me, is the one that falls simply because he is the one, as the coach, who has got to make the system work. 

“He is the one who has to make the preparation meticulously right for an Ashes tour. 

“He is the one to have all bases covered, plan B, plan C, plan D and England got to Adelaide still looking like rabbits in headlights.

“That’s why he is probably the one that falls.”

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‘A bit of a stag do’

Monty Panesar says England now need to show some fight before the tour is done having been outplayed in every facet by Australia.

The former spin bowler told talkSPORT’s Weekend Breakfast: “This Australia team is stronger, mentally, physically and technically. Steve Smith and Pat Cummins are better captains technically and tactically as well.

“Whenever England got into a strong position, they just didn’t know how to hold onto that and gave away the momentum.

“Ben Stokes showed so much fight but I think the rest of the team has to raise their game as well with him.

“Generally speaking, the top order just hasn’t fired and they haven’t had the bowling attack to take 20 wickets.

“Everyone is saying ‘Bazball is dead’ and going after this England team.

“England’s preparation was all wrong, they weren’t ready for it at all. The media is after them now.

“Everyone is thinking this was a bit of a stag do, enjoying themselves too much and having a good laugh and joke.

“But now it’s like, come on guys, we want to see England show a bit of fight and see a better performance. 

“This team is under-prepared, they’re not as mentally strong as the Australia and the Australians are just a tougher team.”

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Stokes stays strong

Stokes believes his team will take plenty of positives from their performance in Adelaide, despite the criticism.

While questions will inevitably come Stokes’ way with regards to his position as captain, the 34-year-old gave no suggestion that he’s thinking of stepping down.

Instead, he is looking forward to using some of the learnings from this series in future matches.

He said: “I think there’s a lot of stuff that, as a team, we can actually take forward with us for the remaining games and into the future and for other series that we’ve got [coming up].

“Obviously it’s a pretty emotional time for me in the dressing room and the guys, the players, management, backroom staff.

“But when we get ourselves together and speak about the game and what we need to do in the remaining games here, I think we will take a lot out of this game.

“We can sort of see, this is how we can apply ourselves to give us a better chance of being a much more consistent cricket team.”

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Listen here

Matthew Hoggard believes England’s comments during this series have been ‘tone deaf’ and maybe they should have listened to some advice from cricketing legends.

Headlines were made when Stokes took aim at ‘has-beens’ from the past, questioning how the current side prepared for the 2025/26 Ashes series.

Hoggard told talkSPORT.com: “We’ve had it all – ‘the old has-beens don’t know what they are talking about’. ‘We haven’t had time to prepare’. ‘We know what we are doing to beat Australia’. ‘We are sticking to a plan’. ‘We’ve had three-and-a-half years to plan for this tour’. ‘If you think we haven’t, then you are all silly and you don’t know what you are talking about’.

“Well, actually, we might have known what we are talking about.

“Ben Stokes has then said there is no room in his dressing room for weak men, and you could see the hurt and anger in his eyes. History is there to learn from.

“Brendon McCullum said ‘we overprepared’. I can see the point of them doing too many net sessions, and I get why they didn’t go to the pink-ball game because the surface was completely different, but to say they overprepared was tone deaf, and the optics that come out of that.

“People were questioning how well they’ve prepared for this Test series, and after playing six days of the ten that you can do, you are now going off on holiday.

“The optics coming out of the camp didn’t look great.”