England have combined their red and white-ball head coach roles into one with the appointment of Brendon McCullum as Matthew Mott's successor. Now well-established as the Test honcho, here's what's in McCullum's white ball in-tray to start his tenure.
Which of England’s new faces will stick?
It makes sense that a new (-ish) face will preside over a completely new cycle of white-ball cricket. However, one of McCullum’s first challenges is that he wasn’t in charge of selecting its first squads. In terms of setting the tone of the new era, McCullum hasn’t been its early architect. Five uncapped players are part of the squads that will Australia from next week, in addition to returning faces who weren’t part of England’s T20 World Cup group earlier this year.
However, the squads do have in part a ‘McCullum’ feel to them. Jordan Cox and Josh Hull were both included in England’s Test squad against Sri Lanka - the latter set to make his debut this week at The Oval. The returning players include Matthew Potts and Jamie Smith, also in McCullum’s Test match group. Nevertheless, building from the ground-up means player turnover could be high over the next year or so, as England form another group to take them through this cycle. With these players first up for audition to be in that core, McCullum will be the decider as the whether they stick or fall away.
🚨 Brendon McCullum is now England's all-format coach of the senior men's team.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 3, 2024
He will assume the role in white-ball cricket from January 2025.
READ: https://t.co/JxI3x7IUan pic.twitter.com/2qEkaGE06u
Buttler relationship
While McCullum’s relationship with Ben Stokes in the Test format has become one of the defining partnerships of English cricket over the last decade, he will now need to form a similar one with England’s white-ball captain. The red-ball partnership began with a completely clean slate, Jos Buttler has so far presided over a T20 World Cup victory, then defeat, as well as a 50-over World Cup defeat. McCullum is not only tasked with turning England’s run of defeats around this time, but also reaffirming the success of their leader.
Moreover, while Buttler has publicly expressed his idolisation of McCullum as a player, the two have never formally worked together. Buttler was been well out of the Test set-up before McCullum took over and has not played in a team he has coached or played in during his franchise career. Establishing what their working relationship looks like, and whether it is an equal partnership like the Stokes-McCullum one, must be a priority.
Management of multi-format players
McCullum will be the latest in a long line of England and other national coaches to attempt to find a solution to how to manage multi-format players. When Rob Key first took over as England men’s performance director, he made it clear his vision at that time was to prioritise Test cricket. While each side’s results have broadly reflected that, white-ball results have tailed off further than expected. England have white and red ball tours back-to-back in different parts of the world for a large part of the upcoming winter, McCullum will need to decide how he splits his charges. What having McCullum do both jobs does avoid though, is one frustrated party who are robbed of selecting some of their first choice players.
His own schedule
The volume of cricket McCullum will now be in charge of is staggering. England’s first Test against Pakistan in October starts a week after their final ODI against Australia - which Marcus Trescothick will remain in charge of. Their last Test in Pakistan is scheduled to finish three days before the first game of a white ball series in the Caribbean, which in turn finishes 10 days before England’s first Test in New Zealand. All of that will be crammed in before Christmas. It’s unavoidable that McCullum will have to hand off some of these series to an assistant.
However, the real challenge lies further into the future. The 2026 T20 World Cup will take place directly after the Ashes in Australia, while the 50-over World Cup will take place directly after the 2027 home Ashes. Historically, when England have had to prepare for both at the same time, results have suffered. The planning stages for those tournaments will have to begin immediately to find a solution other regimes have been unable to.
One eye on the Champions Trophy
McCullum’s biggest first challenge, however, will be the Champions Trophy, which will take place in February. It’s the first major tournament of McCullum’s coaching tenure and, coming so soon in the job, will be a baseline for where England’s white-ball side is now at. It’s also a chance to see how long the freshness and energy McCullum must inject into the side lasts. When McCullum took over the Test side, the effects of his revolution were immediate, if his effect on the white ball side is not as swift, making his impact felt will be the biggest challenge of his spell with England so far.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
