Brendon McCullum has admitted England need to “be more refined” if they are to beat the best Test teams in the world.

The New Zealander oversaw a significant upturn in England’s results after taking over, winning 10 of his first 11 Tests in charge set against one win in 17 before his appointment. However, they haven’t won a series since then, drawing against New Zealand and Australia before going down 4-1 in India.

Under McCullum and Stokes, England have pioneered an attacking style and have at times come in for criticism for squandering dominant positions with their aggression. They have generally been exhorted to “go harder” after any setbacks by their leadership team. McCullum, speaking to reporters in India at the end of the series, gave the first indications that a change in method could be forthcoming.

“When you are exposed in the way we have been here, you know that you have to get better in some areas,” he said. “The next couple of months will be us working out that and making sure when we come to the summer we are a more refined version of what we are at the minute.

“In the last two years we have done pretty well, to get from where we were to what we have got to now. We’ve discovered a lot about our side and the talent within English cricket. We’ve seen some guys who have really grown in that period of time. But we have to keep growing because there are many very skilled cricketers around the world and many very good cricket teams. If we stay where we are we’re not going to be good enough to be able to go toe-to-toe with them.”

England will play West Indies and Sri Lanka in a pair of Test series this summer, before a repeat of their 2022/23 winter, travelling to Pakistan and New Zealand. Then they will face the same schedule that brought about the end of the Chris Silverwood era, playing India at home and then Australia away.