Adelaide [Australia], December 14 : The Ben Stokes-led England appear likely to stick with the same batting line-up for the third Ashes Test in Adelaide after head coach Brendon McCullum voiced strong support for his top seven, cautioning against "knee-jerk reactions" despite the 2-0 deficit to Australia, as per ESPNcricinfo.
England have been dismissed for 172, 164, 334 and 241 in the first two Tests, with Joe Root the only batter averaging above 30, while the likes of Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith are both under pressure after failing to make an impact in Brisbane. At the same time, Jacob Bethell waits in the wings as the reserve batting option.
McCullum said England will stick with the players who have made up their preferred top seven over the past 18 months, adding that conditions at Adelaide Oval should better suit them than the pace and bounce they faced in Perth and Brisbane. He also played down any concern about speculation surrounding his future as England head coach.
"I wouldn't have thought so," McCullum said when asked if they would consider making changes to the top seven, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
McCullum noted that from England's point of view, they have a top seven that has been reasonably successful for a period of time. He added that conditions in Adelaide should help the batters but also admitted that the batters haven't got enough runs on the board in the series so far.
"From our point of view, we've had a top seven now for a period of time and we've been reasonably successful with it. These conditions should suit the style of batters that we've got as well. We know we haven't got enough runs so far in this series. We've been in positions where we could have and made some mistakes, and that can happen at times," England's coach said.
McCullum said that winning the series would not come from abandoning what has worked for England in recent years, but from showing greater conviction. He stressed the need to tighten their plans and discipline and to walk out with complete belief in what they are capable of achieving.
"But for us to go on and win this series, it's not about throwing out what has been successful for us over the last few years. It's about having more conviction. It's about making sure we have our plans and our disciplines around it just screwed down a touch more; making sure when we walk out there, we have utter belief in what we are capable of achieving," he added.
McCullum said England does not believe in knee-jerk reactions or constantly changing a settled batting line-up.
"Knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing settled batting line-ups are not really our way."