England coach Brendon McCullum urges Ashes calm after first Test loss

England coach Brendon McCullum concedes his team's ultra-aggressive tactics can have ugly consequences at times, but he is urging fans to keep the faith despite the calamitous result in Perth.

Australia leads 1-0 in the five-match series after routing England by eight wickets inside two days at Perth Stadium.

England was 1-65 in its second innings on Saturday — an overall lead of 105 — before suffering a huge collapse as its Bazball tactics backfired badly.

Travis Head then pounded England's tired-looking attack on the way to 123 off 83 balls as Australia chased down the 205-run victory target with ease.

The next Test at the Gabba, starting on December 4, is a day-night, pink-ball fixture.

Former Test captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook have urged England to play its frontline side in the upcoming two-day, pink-ball practice match against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra, starting November 29, instead of using a second XI outfit as originally planned.

McCullum says he will consider his options over the coming days, and he is also backing opener Zak Crawley to bounce back in Brisbane after the 27-year-old's pair of ducks in Perth.

England's attack-at-all-costs mentality in Perth has been widely criticised by some of the nation's greatest cricket legends, including Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan.

But McCullum is standing firm behind the team's tactics.

"I'm pretty confident of the way we go about things," McCullum said.

"The last few years we've built a set-up which is connected, it's tight, and we play a style of cricket that we believe gives us our best chance.

"If we go away from that, then we're in trouble.

"There's no point trying to play for safety per se. We've just got to keep backing our approach and be strong, and keep believing in what we're doing. That will give us the best chance to bounce back."

McCullum is embracing the pressure that has been directed his way.

"This is the fun stuff, right?" he said.

"When you're under the bat and things haven't quite worked out, that's when your methods are tested at their best — when you've got to stay calm as a leader, keep plotting the path and the way forward, and eyes on the prize and try to block out some of the doubts and the insecurities that can creep in.

"Because if that does happen, you literally have no chance. That's my belief as a coach and that's the captain's belief too."

McCullum's message to the fans was simple.

"I'd say keep the faith," he said.

"We know what our best game is, what gives us our greatest opportunity.

"We've been in this situation before … we played South Africa and lost in two days that first Test and came back and won that series 2-1.

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

"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."

AAP