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As Brendon McCullum departed Australia, there was one shred of comfort he could take from a dismal Ashes series – he would soon have a chance to try again.
The knives have been out for McCullum, unsurprisingly, given not only the manner of England’s 4-1 defeat but the reporting of the extracurricular activities. McCullum is not the first England coach to be on the end of a thumping Down Under but stories of fights with bouncers and mid-tour trips to Noosa make it far more likely to end in the sack.
For now, McCullum has been spared the execution, as has director Rob Key, but with such uninspiring words from McCullum as describing the job as “a pretty good gig” many are wondering why.
In fairness, it is easy to make a case for the dismissal. Since the moment McCullum was appointed in 2022, England have been preparing for the Ashes, hoping a change in style would bring with it a change in fortune.
To his credit, McCullum and Ben Stokes have done a lot of good for English cricket. After a self-hating malaise had swept in, players were allowed to be confident again and the early stages of ‘Bazball’ was a refreshing change that brought fans back to the sport.
The problem was, McCullum never mastered that difficult second album. If Bazball began by giving the players the belief to go out and play on the front foot, it never evolved into a method of playing that would win Test matches. England started off McCullum’s reign by winning 12 of 13 Tests, they have won just three of the past 10.
The Ashes then should have been the final straw but the reason it is not may not be anything to do with what McCullum has done but instead, the organising of the 2026 calendar.
A month to the day that England lost the fifth and final Test in Sydney, they will face Nepal in their opening match of the T20 World Cup. The tournament, which is being hosted by India and Sri Lanka, has never been played so early in the year and it may have prompted the England hierarchy to hold off firing their red ball coach as it is the very same man in charge of the white ball teams.
England head to the tournament looking to rejuvenate their limited-overs fortunes. Once double World Champions, they lost their 50-over crown in 2023 before surrendering the T20 title in 2024, a double disappointment that saw Matthew Mott step down as head coach.
In his place came McCullum and if you were deciding on which format the New Zealander would be best suited for, chances are you would more naturally steer towards white ball.
Bazball is a phrase that will haunt McCullum and has become a catch-all for their Ashes failure but playing on the front foot, taking the aggressive and positive option and trying to intimidate your opponent by scoring quickly are ways to win T20 matches.
McCullum’s first white ball test with England was the Champions Trophy in which they slumped to 10 defeats out of a possible 11 and if ODIs remain an issue (just look at the New Zealand tour), there is at least more positives when it comes to T20.
England have not lost a T20 series since a tour of India in 2024. In 2025, they won three of the four series they played in. On paper, they have one of the strongest lineups for the World Cup and one which suits their approach of trying to hit every ball for six.
At their peak, England was a T20 side capable of outscoring anyone. Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and more, led by Eoin Morgan, who himself was no slouch, was a winning formula. McCullum will be reading off the same playbook in this year’s edition and he has the tools at his disposal to recreate the achievements of that side.
Ignoring his off-field activities, which will hopefully be curbed now they are in the spotlight, Harry Brook is the best T20 batter England have. Ben Duckett, Phil Salt and Jos Buttler are all good attacking options to go with the bowling main men of Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer.
In theory then, England have the coach and the players to go far and perhaps this is why McCullum remains in post. Sacking him, even just as red-ball coach, threatens to upset the apple cart on the eve of a major tournament.
It is now or never for McCullum whose approach has to produce more than just good vibes. Anything less and it is hard to see how he will be allowed to continue.
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The post Why England would be foolish to get rid of Brendon McCullum now appeared first on Cricket365.
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