McCullum urges England fans to 'keep the faith'

Head coach Brendon McCullum has urged England supporters to "keep the faith" despite his team being hammered inside two days in the first Ashes Test.

The tourists unravelled to an eight-wicket defeat by Australia in Perth after Travis Head made one of the all-time great Ashes centuries.

Realistically, England must now avoid defeat in the second Test in Brisbane - a city where they have not won for 39 years - in order to keep their hopes of regaining the urn alive.

"We know how big this series this is," said McCullum. "We know how many eyeballs are on it and how disappointed the fans will be. We're incredibly disappointed ourselves.

"We're better than what we showed and we look forward to the next opportunity."

England were 105 runs ahead for the loss of one second-innings wicket on Saturday, only to implode to one of their worst defeats in this country.

They lost their last nine wickets for 99 runs, including a match-changing spell of 3-0 in six balls.

Australia's target of 205 seemed stiff on a difficult batting pitch, but Head, promoted to open, crashed a 69-ball century - the second-fastest in Ashes history.

England's defeat is the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921. The 67.3 overs England batted across their two innings at Perth Stadium is their fewest in a Test defeat since 1904.

It also extended their winless this run in this country to 16 Tests, including 14 defeats. England have not won a match in Australia since 2011.

The next Test at the Gabba, beginning on 4 December, is a day-nighter. Australia have lost only one of their 14 day-night Tests and in Mitchell Starc, who took 10 wickets in Perth, have the best pink-ball bowler in the world.

Asked what his message to England fans would be, New Zealander McCullum replied: "Keep the faith.

"Sometimes we get beaten and it looks pretty ugly, but there are times when having that type of mentality allows us to still believe in our abilities when we step out to play.

"There are times we don't get it right, but we have to believe in what we believe in because it gives us the best chance. Just because we are one down in the series doesn't change what we believe in.

"We have to stay calm, stay together, and plot our way back into this series, as we have done before."

England are due to travel to Brisbane on Wednesday, more than a week before the second Test begins.

England Lions have a two-day pink-ball match against a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra next weekend. Captain Ben Stokes was adamant none of the Ashes squad will divert to the capital for practice under the lights, but McCullum appeared to leave the door open for a change in plans.

"We've just got to work out what the pros and cons are," said the former New Zealand captain.

"We're not married to any position at the moment, but we'll work it out in a couple of days."

McCullum also backed Zak Crawley, who recorded only the fourth pair by an England opener in an Ashes Test. Starc dismissed the Kent man for a duck twice in the space of 11 balls.

Crawley's average as an opener - 30.22 - is the lowest of any man in Test cricket to have as many as his 96 innings at the top of the order.

"We believe he is a quality player, particularly in these conditions against this sort of opposition," said McCullum.

"He got out cheaply, but we believe in Zak. Sometimes you get out early, right? It would have been nice if he hadn't, but that's life. If he can get going, he can do some damage."