Flintoff? Morgan? After England’s vibes man failed to even get the most basic part of his job right on this tour, it’s time for a change
SYDNEY — The mood music over Brendon McCullum’s future as England coach has shifted in the week since his team garnered a consolation win in the Boxing Day Test.
It now seems likely that the New Zealander will stay on in the role regardless of the result of the final Ashes Test in Sydney that starts on Saturday night UK time.
Victory for Ben Stokes’ men, and a 2-3 series scoreline, might even be enough to end the debate among those who wield the real power in this situation – England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Richard Thompson and Richard Gould, his chief executive.
Both are in Sydney to survey the wreckage of an Ashes campaign that was over for England as a going concern in 11 days of cricket.
This was the series that was supposed to define the tenure of McCullum, who has now been in the job for close to four years.
Brendon McCullum has failed for England when it mattered most (Photo: Getty)
The relaxed, carefree set-up that took the pressure off players, has largely worked well, with England winning 26 of 45 Tests during McCullum’s time in charge.
Yet they have been found wanting in the biggest series against India and Australia, failing to win all four against those opponents.
Damningly, McCullum, whose chief skill is man management over technical coaching, has admitted that the players struggled to perform under the weight of expectation when the series was alive in Australia.
This one in particular stings because of the expectations going into it. Australia are, as Stuart Broad suggested before the tour, at their weakest point as a team since England last won here in winter of 2010-11.
Ageing and hit by multiple injuries to key men, they have still been too good for England whose chances have been scuppered by poor preparation and a mental weakness borne of a loose set-up where the players and the head coach are rarely challenged.
Having pared down the backroom staff since taking the job in the summer of 2022, McCullum has surrounded himself with yes men – namely his assistants Jeetan Patel and Marcus Trescothick.
The dressing-room has become an echo chamber where groupthink dominates. The only man who can seemingly challenge McCullum is Stokes, who used his pre-Test sitdown with the UK written press on Friday to back his under-fire coach. “There is no doubt in my mind that me and Brendon are the right people to carry on doing this for the near future,” he said.
The reality, though, is that on the biggest stage of all, McCullum has been a complete failure.
England’s poor preparation in Perth – just a single warm-up match against their own second-string team at a club ground – was driven by McCullum. Managing director Rob Key did not feel either able or inclined to challenge that plan.
Ben Stokes remains convinced he and McCullum should keep their roles (Photo: Getty)
The general looseness of the regime was illustrated by the team’s mid-series “stag do” in the Queensland holiday resort of Noosa.
But this lack of rigour was in evidence way before this tour. Just look at James Anderson, who was England’s bowling coach in Pakistan last winter, being given permission to turn up two days into the opening Test in Multan so he could play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.
Anderson has been one of several part-time fast-bowling “consultants” used by McCullum along with his former New Zealand team-mate Tim Southee and Australian David Saker for this Ashes series.
England, with their most inexperienced bowling attack in a generation, do not have a full-time coach to nurture these players.
They do not have a fielding coach either, nor a wicketkeeping coach. Dropped chances, particularly in Brisbane and Adelaide, have been so costly during this series, while wicketkeeper Jamie Smith has looked shorn of confidence and form.
Still, at least England had mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka, another mate of McCullum’s, on board for the run-up to the first Test.
Again, bad planning and bad preparation are responsible. The man who has to carry the can is McCullum.
Thompson and Gould need to ensure that there is accountability for this most anti-climactic of Ashes tours. Sacking Trescothick and Patel will not wash.
Even sacking Key, while retaining McCullum, would feel like a betrayal. Key has English cricket’s best interests at heart and is maybe able to keep this whole thing going if he picks another coach who can get along with Stokes, whose position as captain rightly remains bulletproof.
The cost of paying up McCullum’s contract that runs until the end of next year – around £1m – will sting. But the ECB, who have cash reserves of £58m, can afford it.
So while victory in the final Ashes Test in Sydney could be seen as McCullum’s saviour, it really should be the thing that costs him his job. That’s because it would be a reminder that England might have been good enough all along were it not for incompetent leadership from a vibes man who failed to even get that most basic part of his job right on this tour.
Six options to replace McCullum
Gareth Batty should be the leading English contender (Photo: Getty)
Gareth Batty
Leading English coaching contender having won the County Championship with Surrey in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Helped develop the likes of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith too. But would moving from county cricket to the biggest job in the country be a step too far at this stage of the 48-year-old’s career?
Eoin Morgan
Linked to the white-ball job previously, could England’s 2019 World Cup-winning captain be the perfect man to take on the Bazball project? Has a close relationship with Stokes and the motivational skills to evolve the team. It’s three years since he said he was open to being England coach “down the line”. Would be left-field but a potentially brilliant appointment.
Gary Kirtsen
Perennial contender whenever this job ever comes up. The South African has done it all during his time as coach of India, who he led to the World Cup in 2011, and his homeland. The 58-year-old missed out on England Test job to McCullum in 2022 despite impressing during interview. Could be in the running again.
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Justin Langer
Left the Australia job in 2022 despite winning the T20 World Cup and 2021-22 Ashes series. Good track record and helped restore his country’s reputation after Sandpaper-gate scandal but could England really appoint such a true-blue Aussie?
Kumar Sangakkara
The Sri Lankan is one of the brightest coaching prospects in the world and knows Stokes well through their time together at Rajasthan Royals, where he is now head coach and director of cricket. Viable white-ball coach option if McCullum leaves and England want to split the role.
Andrew Flintoff
Current England Lions coach and is clearly on the pathway to one day coaching the men’s team. But has limited experience other than being head coach of Northern Superchargers in the Hundred and would struggle with the public-facing side of the England job.