I've cut and paste this bit from the ESPN article as I can't quite believe what I'm reading...
That's why we took [this loss] better than other losses perhaps, because it was great for the game. I think Sky had record viewing figures, Test Match Special had record listening figures, so this week was a great week for cricket and that's what we're all about.
"We're not about results. We always talk about that. We're not about winning or losing: we're about entertainment. Of course, we're there to win and it helps our brand and what we're trying to do. If we win, we get more traction.
"But I don't think we've lost anything this week other than a game of cricket, which is [the first in] a five-match series. But other than that, we've gained a lot of respect. We gained lots of support and I think it's great for the game.
I've put the bits in bold that really stand out for me, yes I get the argument that the ECB need test cricket to be entertaining, that people playing the game are slightly down, but ffs come on. Top level sport is about winning, always has been and always will be.
Entertaining losers will get you so far, but it won't take hold like a series win will.
If we lose the next 2 tests and the ashes are gone, then any momentum bazball gives is gone imo, fans won't accept "but we played exciting cricket, aren't we different"