The series is on the line and, in all likelihood, jobs with it. But for Brendon McCullum, the latter is irrelevant. The England head coach has instead backed an unchanged top seven to deliver a fightback in the third Ashes Test and flip a narrative that has already led to talk of a whitewash bubbling up.
At 2-0 down with three to play, all wiggle room has disappeared for England. But talk of Ollie Pope being dropped, or even Ben Stokes moving to No 3, was shot down by McCullum as his players resumed training in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon. No going back now was the message.
