Ashes 2025-26: 'We'll have a beer tonight' - Brendon McCullum on England's mindset after Australia thumping

England faced a miserable loss in the second Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26, as the encounter at the Gabba, Brisbane was wrapped up inside four days of play. Australia chased down the target like a formality, making a mockery out of the English attack to go 2-0 up in the series, and almost putting the visitors out of contention to regain the Ashes.

After the loss, England head coach Brendon McCullum reminisced on the shambolic defeat and reflected on how the approach is going to be for the remainder of the series. He shed light on how, despite being more than prepared, his side could not put up a fight. However, he wants to make the players feel fresh, and they be doing so by having a few beers, the coach says.

"I think we'll probably have a beer tonight and then, you know, I think leading into this test match, I actually felt like we over-prepared, to be honest. We had five intense training days and I think sometimes when you're in the heat of the battle, as we all know, I think sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh and make sure your top two inches is completely sound," McCullum said via 7Cricket.

The former New Zealand international also feels that, as a coach, he needs to ensure that the players learn from their mistakes and rectify them by tweaking their preparation while training. McCullum said that the team will also be spending some off time, completely away from cricket, to make sure that they feel energized and relaxed when they return to the field.

"The boys just need a few days off and probably need to change up a few of the training methods a little bit. I'm a horse racing man and you wouldn't just keep doing the same thing with your horse. You'd send it around in figure eights or over the little jumps just to try and switch it on a bit. So we'll look at some alternative methods over the next few days," McCullum added.

"We've got a couple of days in Noosa, which would be good to spend a bit of time casually and just let the dust settle on what's been a pretty intense couple of weeks and start to plot and plan our way back into the series," he concluded.

The third Test is scheduled to commence on December 17 at the iconic Adelaide Oval. If the Ben Stoked-led side loses this contest, the Australians will take an unassailable lead, and also keep the Ashes with themselves. With Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood likely to return to the Australian set-up, it will be interesting to notice the changes England make to their style of play for the rest of the tour Down Under.