Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, has pledged to provide England with better “long-term planning and preparation” ahead of future men’s Test series against Australia and India, which he described as the team’s “significant priorities” moving forwards.
“We have to understand where our priorities are, and our priorities are largely with winning the Ashes and Test series against India,” Gould said. “Those are where our significant priorities are, so we need to make sure that we’ve got the right long-term planning and preparation for all of those major events.”
England prepared for the Ashes with a three-day match against England Lions at Lilac Hill, a club ground in Perth, which followed on from a white-ball tour to New Zealand. Gould said that he is working on a memorandum of understanding with Cricket Australia and called on the ‘Big Three’ boards to pay “full respect” to Test cricket by allowing for adequate build-up.
“We need to do a better job in terms of the planning cycle,” Gould said. “We’ve started drafting what our options will be for the Ashes next time [in 2029-30]. We don’t know yet whether or not the first match will start in Brisbane or Perth because Cricket Australia have got a process going on to decide where the first Test starts [but] we will make sure that this team do have the available windows to be able to put elements in.
“We need to make sure that we respectively are providing the best training opportunities when we host Australia and India or when they host us. Over a 10-to-15-year period, there has been a process whereby you maybe try and seek an advantage or you’re moving fixtures around or preparation fixtures or for different reasons, or you may not face the opposition that you really, ideally, want to face. That’s why you do see more intra-squad games.
“We, as a system – that’s us, India, Australia – need to make sure that we’re paying full respect to the format of the game and making sure the players have the opportunity to perform their highest [potential].”
Gould made clear that he sees Test series against Australia and India as England’s barometer of success, rather than their performance in the World Test Championship or at white-ball ICC events, including World Cups. He also cited a rise in viewership of Test cricket in England as a reason to retain the team’s management despite their thrashing in Australia.
“We need to prioritise better because we need to understand where success best sits. In this country, Test cricket in the men’s game is where it sits,” Gould said.
“On average, viewership of all of our Test cricket has increased by about 25% over the last four years. That’s a big number. For the Australia series, it actually went up by 45%, but if you put an average, it’s about 25% across all Tests.
“When I see the various forms of cricket taking off around the world, some of it means less than others and at those times, Test cricket is becoming even more important because it’s the thing that everybody wants to succeed in. It’s how you prove and demonstrate your ability and your success, and that’s what we’re keen on doing.”
He added: “It’s not a complete reset. When you see where Test cricket has come in this country in the last four years, this is not the time to throw everything out. It’s time to learn and build.”
England will host New Zealand and Pakistan for three-match Test series this summer, before travelling to South Africa (three Tests), Bangladesh (two) and Australia (one) in the 2026-27 winter. Their next five-match series is against Australia in 2027, where Gould said they would be looking for “revenge” as they target a first Ashes win in 12 years.
Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
