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“I’m enjoying the time I’ve spent with these guys, and we’ve made some progress since I took over to where we are now,” he said.
“We’re not the finished article, but we’ve definitely improved as a cricket team. We’ve had an identity about us.”
“It’s time for us in the last two Tests to really show that identity and try to salvage something from it.”
The defeat in Adelaide extended England’s winless run in Tests in Australia to 18 matches. They haven’t won a series in this country since 2010-11.
After again trailing 3-0 after three games, they were left to battle against the insult of a 5-0 clean sweep. Three previous England teams lost the Ashes series 5-0 in Australia.
England could field batsman Ollie Pope for the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where crowds are expected to reach 100,000. Jacob Bethel is the reserve hitter on the Tourists’ squad.
If England revamp their attacking tempo, Brydon Cars looks the most likely candidate to be left out.
The visitors also have a decision to take on Shoaib Bashir, who arrived in Australia as their first choice but has not featured in the first three Tests.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is in Australia playing T20 cricket in the Big Bash, but McCullum said he would not look outside his 16-man squad for reinforcements.
“I can’t imagine we’ll bring anyone in from outside,” he said. “We’ll have to look at the conditions in Melbourne and see what we think will be our best team in those conditions and that competition.”
After the defeat in the second Test in Brisbane, McCullum said his team could not have a “glass jaw”, while captain Stokes said Australia was “no place for weak men”.
Then, in the run-up to the third Test in Adelaide, Stokes admitted having “raw” conversations with England players about his message.
But editorial Zak Crawley later claimed he was not aware of the “weak men” comments.
When McCullum was asked if the players still had confidence in his style, he replied: “I hope so. You have to ask them.”
“I will always support my players, I will always support them, and I will always make sure that I also protect them in the public forum.
“That doesn’t mean you’re not particularly challenging, but in a public forum, you’re always protective. I think you’ll have to ask these questions elsewhere, but I don’t imagine anything will change in the coming days as we look to try to salvage something from this.”
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