Brendon McCullum will hold his job as England coach – however should show his squad have realized from boozy run-ins and disastrous Ashes
Brendon McCullum will stay on as England’s all-format coach – but that could change if the mistakes that led to a 4–1 hammering in the Ashes are repeated during this season’s six Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan.
McCullum confirmed his desire to keep his job after England’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat by India in Mumbai on Thursday and, while he still needs to conduct a post-tournament debrief with his bosses at the ECB, he will be given the chance to show that he and his backroom staff have learned from the disastrous tour of Australia.
The ECB hierarchy have said all along that they do not want to repeat the age-old error of multiple sackings after every defeat Down Under.
Instead, they intend to give McCullum – whose contract runs until the end of the one-day World Cup in southern Africa in late 2027 – a third and final chance to win back the Ashes next summer.
Central to his survival has been his agreement to run a tighter ship than the one which ran aground in Australia amid accusations of a booze culture – not helped when it emerged that the ECB had covered up white-ball captain Harry Brook’s late-night run-in with a club bouncer during the tour of New Zealand that preceded the Ashes.
A midnight curfew was imposed for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, where England won five games out of six, and there was further progress at the World Cup, where they won six out of seven before losing out to India in a slugfest.
Brendon McCullum will be given the chance to prove he has learned from recent failures in post
By McCullum’s side will be Ben Stokes, assuming his body can see him through until next year’s fifth Test at The Oval, while managing director Rob Key also looks set to stay in his position.
The ECB’s decision to stick – for now, at least – with the status quo means there will have been minimal change since England subsided to a fourth successive thrashing in Australia, where their record since winning under Andrew Strauss in 2010-11 is now 17 defeats and a single victory.
Luke Wright’s tenure as a selector is now at an end, after he signalled his desire to spend more time with his young family after taking on the job in November 2022, while fielding coach Carl Hopkinson was brought back in ahead of the World Cup after being dispensed with at the end of 2024.
Otherwise, the same faces will attempt to get England’s Test fortunes back on track – not only after the Ashes, but also following their disappointing 2–2 home draw against India.
