By: Sports DeskDecember 26, 2025 05:18 PM IST 3 min readEngland had only momentary relief from the avalanche of criticism that has come their way since an 82-run defeat in the third Ashes Test meant that they have lost the series once again to Australia. (Reuters Photo)Former England captain Alastair Cook has said that the team management has to address what he calls a “massive disconnect” between the side and the country’s domestic County circuit. Cook, speaking on TNT Sports at Lunch on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test in the Ashes, said that England under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have stopped rewarding good performances in County cricket, which needs to be addressed.“They started off with a bang, Key (England team managing director Rob Key), McCullum and Stokes but since then it has gone downhill,” said Cook about the start that the current management had in which they didn’t lose all seven of their first seven Test series, winning five of them. England’s first series loss in the Stokes-McCullum regime was a 4-1 defeat away to India.In fact, the current management have only lost one more series apart from that, which was away from home to Pakistan earlier this year. That defeat was then followed by a remarkable 2-1 series win in New Zealand, followed by a 2-2 draw at home to India. England are now trailing 3-0 in the Ashes though, hardly looking capable of putting Australia under any sustainable pressure over the course of the series.“They’ve done a good job. I like Rob Key and McCullum, I like how they thing but I do feel this last bit, they have taken their eye off the ball in the biggest series. They drew India and then India got thumped by South Africa so that Indian side wasn’t a great Indian side either,” said Cook.“This has been a real reminder that the traditional values of selection in Test cricket are still important. These guys have totally and utterly said County cricket’s irrelevant. There’s a massive disconnect at this minute between this England side and County cricket. I think that needs to be addressed. Because if you are banging out runs or wickets in County cricket, there must be a path into the Test team and I think at the minute there isn’t. So that needs to be looked at.”England had only momentary relief from the avalanche of criticism that has come their way since an 82-run defeat in the third Ashes Test meant that they have lost the series once again to Australia. Josh Tongue took five wickets as England skittled Australia out for 152 runs on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. However, the reality of Australia’s superiority in all departments was on display when in reply, England ended up being all out for 110 on the same day with Michael Neser taking four wickets Scott Boland picking three.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Alastair CookThe Ashes