There is a memorable scene in Succession in which logan Roy, the family patriarch, laments the lack of killer instinct among his children as they resist taking what he insists is the most pragmatic business deal. “I love you,” he says. “But you are not serious people.”
And so with Brendon McCullum‘s regime. Under him, the England cricket team have become a fundamentally unserious operation, even if people admired – and perhaps loved – what they originally set out to do. Thinking he could liberate the players from pressure by creating a freewheeling environment, and being a convert to no-consequence cricket himself, McCullum tried to insulate them from the jeopardy that lies at the heart of all top-class competition.
There had been warnings as to the risks of this approach but it is indeed only now, up against australia in their own conditions – where they know how to turn themselves into one of the most ruthlessly efficient teams in all sport – that the flaws in McCullum’s approach have been laid bare.
McCullum and Stokes began their tenures as head coach and captain respectively in 2022 and quickly set about trying to change the mindset of England’s players
STEVEN PASTON/PA WIRE
The backlash has scarcely begun but it is coming hard. One senior county figure, who was watching in Adelaide, said waspishly: “well, I’ll say one thing for them. They have improved their golf handicaps. and they have done it at our expense.”
fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Table of Contents
McCullum’s relaxed style originally appeared to be a virtue as he took over a team that had lost their joy in the game, but what became clear with time was how pervasive this philosophy woudl be.
Unserious selection and staffing blunders
Surely only a management group that have completely underestimated the task at hand would back a spinner in Bashir who does not even hold a county contract and has not bowled in a competitive match for months, a wicketkeeper who does not keep regularly for his county in Smith, and a spare batsman in Bethell who is only 22.
England’s Ashes Woes: A Reckoning in Australia
The plan to come to Australia with a hostile pace attack was perhaps fair enough but there is still no substitute for repeatedly hitting a good line and length, as the Australians have done. England’s bowlers – with one or two notable exceptions – have been unable to do that. Mark Wood was a gamble that did not pay off, as was fairly clear would be the case several months ago.
Yes, James Anderson was forcibly retired but Chris Woakes was never going to feature here and was allowed to stay so long that it denied others much-needed exposure.
One area in which McCullum acted ruthlessly was in paring down his backroom staff.He wanted players to think for themselves but this move also denied them the kind of training they needed from fielding coaches who are no longer around. Sure enough, dropped catches have been a part of what has gone wrong.
Loss of faith in Bazball
The management should also have known that trying to play their high-octane game of aggression was at risk of unravelling on Australia’s bouncy pitches. Australia knew how England were going to play and – as Scott Boland effectively said – all their bowlers had to do was stick the ball outside off stump and let the batsmen hang themselves. The tourists had no plan B.
Publication Date: 2025/12/21 10:00:56