Brendan McCullum, the former New Zealand captain has been appointed as the new England coach. It was a rather unexpected decision because his name was never mentioned as being in the reckoning. Everyone was talking about Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mahela Jayawardene and there was even news going rounds that Ravi Shastri would be interested though he later clarified that he wasn’t interested. One can only assume that Robert Key had thoroughly analysed the candidates and then appointed McCullum as the coach. This is not to state that McCullum is not a good coach. Having spent some time with McCullum, in commentary, perhaps Key saw some good things about him and hence decided to appoint him. Brendan McCullum and England coaching.
Experienced in coaching various franchises
McCullum has coaching experience though not in the red-ball format. He has coached KKR for a very longtime. A position from which he has recently resigned because of his commitment to English cricket. He had also coached the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League. Coaching the white ball team is completely different from coaching the red-ball team. More so, in English cricket because their limited overs team is among the best in the world. The players know what is expected of them and are a well-oiled machine, whereas, the England test match team is far from where their counterparts are.
The public must have lost confidence
McCullum’s task is quite clearly defined. Lift the test team from their current mediocrity to great heights. If that is not possible, atleast to the mid-level. That is the least that will be expected of the new coach. England is coming off a disastrous Ashes and an underwhelming experience in the Caribbean. This is on top of their series loss in India and is currently trailing in the return series against the same opponents. The England public is quite disheartened by their team’s performance. For them, Ashes is the only series that matter and to have lost that one so miserably, quite a few would have stopped following the game.
Ashes is not the be-all and by-all
The task in front of McCullum is enormous. More than anything, the new coach must somehow convince the spectators that all series are important and that Ashes is not the only cricket being played. This is easier said than done. This is an uphill task. How can he convince the spectators? By talking less about Ashes and more about other cricket. That is a start. He must dilute the importance of Ashes. Yes, the next one is about 15 months away and that too in England but this was the exact mistake his predecessor did. Silverwood tried to prepare the team for 2 years and it sort of increased the expectations and when those were shattered beyond repair, it would have been hard for the England supporters to digest. McCullum will have to divert the infatuation of the supporters from Ashes to other cricket.
I guess McCullum will know that cricket is not restricted to Ashes alone. He was afterall, the captain of a very successful New Zealand team. He was quite instrumental in uplifting the performance of the middling team into a solid one. This precisely is the attitude that he must instil in his wards. Unfortunately, he will have to start this process against his own country. If England manages to win that series, McCullum will make a bright start but New Zealand proved last year how tough they are. It will certainly not be a cake walk for England though they are playing in their own country.
He will join the team just in time
McCullum is expected to reach England just before the first test. With KKR definitely not progressing beyond the first round, he will finish his stint in a couple of days and will perhaps fly directly to England.
“I’d like to say how pleased I am to be given this opportunity to positively contribute to England’s Test cricket set-up and move the team forward into a more successful era. In taking this role on, I am acutely aware of the significant challenges the team faces at present, and I strongly believe in my ability to help the team emerge as a stronger force once we’ve confronted them head-on.” McCullum said in a press release.
Stokes as his brother-in-arms
McCullum will work with a fellow Kiwi in Ben Stokes, the new England captain. Hence, there is bound to be a good working relationship between the two. Stokes himself is coming off of a prolonged health problem. He failed in both the Ashes and in West Indies and will be raring to go to prove himself. Being the premier all-rounder, it will be interesting to see how McCullum utilises Stokes’s value to the team. Stokes had already decided to come one slot down the order which I think is the ideal spot for him. It is while bowling where Stokes may need have support. It will fall on the coach to inform his captain not to under or over-bowl himself.
How will the coach handle the bowlers?
One major point is that the new coach will also have to plan for the future. Stokes has said that Broad and Anderson will come back into contention but let us face it. They, especially Anderson, are old and a succession plan must be put forward sooner rather than later. How will McCullum handle the raw pace of Archer, Stone & Wood? England is blessed to have 3 bowlers capable of bowling at 95MPH but they are often injury prone. When all of them are fit and play in the same game, the opponents better beware.
Surely Stokes and McCullum will want them to play in all the important games but at the sametime, their workload must be managed.
Batting is the main concern
England lacks quality openers. That is a fact. There is no escaping that. Root will go back to number 4 which means the coach must find not one, not two but three top-order batsmen. Batsmen who are capable of not only withering the initial assault but to build a solid platform for Root & later Stokes. Except Root, the top 5 looks rather shaky.
Conclusion to Brendan McCullum and England coaching
The honeymoon period for the new coach will not be too long. He will have to hit the ground running. Far too many solutions is required in less time. England supporters will not take lightly an Ashes loss at home.
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