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10 hours ago
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Brendon McCullum retains the support of the England and Wales Cricket Board management and is poised to stay on as head coach after the conclusion of a review triggered by England’s Ashes defeat.
McCullum is returning to his native New Zealand after Thursday’s narrow seven-run defeat by India in a thrilling T20 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai, but will hold further talks with the ECB over the next few weeks before an announcement on his future.
The 44-year-old was under pressure after England’s 4-1 defeat in Australia on a disastrous tour that was also marred by off-field controversies and player indiscipline, but is believed to have convinced the ECB he remains the right man for the job as a result of performances and attitude shown by the white-ball team in India.
England won six of their eight World Cup games and five of six matches on the white-ball tour to Sri Lanka that preceded it, showing fighting spirit to come through tight contests against Pakistan and New Zealand.
McCullum is said to have led a cultural change within the dressing room in a belated acknowledgment that they were too relaxed in Australia, with the players often practising until late in the evening and observing a midnight curfew that was introduced before the Sri Lanka tour.
Several sources have told the Guardian they noticed a conspicuous change in the environment around the team since the Ashes.
McCullum is under contract with the ECB until the 50-over World Cup in South Africa in the autumn of 2027, which is preceded by a home Ashes series, with the executive believed to be of the opinion that England’s best chance of regaining the urn is to back the existing leadership team.
The managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, is also expected to stay on, and is believed to have provided his own endorsement of McCullum, whom he appointed as Test coach four years ago before adding the white-ball teams to his portfolio after sacking Matthew Mott in 2024.
The Test captain, Ben Stokes, has also signed a central contract until the end of 2027, while the white-ball captain, Harry Brook, has been backed to carry on despite being fined £30,000 by the ECB for an altercation with a bouncer the night before a one-day international in New Zealand last November, an incident that is still under investigation by the independent cricket regulator, which could lead to further disciplinary action.
While McCullum was publicly defensive of his methods in the aftermath of the Ashes defeat, in private discussions with the ECB he is understood to have signalled his willingness to adapt and evolve.
There have already been changes made to England’s backroom staff this winter, with Carl Hopkinson recruited as fielding coach for the World Cup and Luke Wright to leave his role as national selector later this month.
The ECB is reviewing their selection processes moving forward, and is also recruiting an additional independent nonexecutive director to join the board and hopes to attract candidates from a cricket rather than a corporate background.
The ECB will conduct a World Cup debrief with McCullum and discuss further potential changes to the setup before confirming its intentions for the summer, but assuming there is no late change of heart there is a widespread expectation he will stay on.
Significantly, McCullum has received strong public support from the players, with Stokes, Brook and Joe Root all unequivocally praising his leadership and stating they want him to stay.
The rest of England’s senior men’s setup also appears to be aligned, with Stokes and Key joining an England Lions trip led by Andrew Flintoff to Abu Dhabi, which ended prematurely when the squad were airlifted back to the United Kingdom after the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
Asked about his future after Thursday’s defeat by India, McCullum said: “I’m enjoying the role across all formats and I’d love to carry that on. I feel like we’ve made some significant improvements across the various formats.”
