England Test cricket coach in-tray: Brendon McCullum’s replacement must find a captain, Ben Stokes must be replaced and sacking must be done | cricket news

As England decide who they want as their new Test coach following Brendon McCullum’s sacking, we look at the tasks on the next red-ball supremo’s to-do list…

Choose a captain

Ben Stokes’ shock – and stunning, considering it came at 3.25pm ​​when he had been through a bowling spell – retirement from international cricket meant England needed a new captain to lead them into the post-baseball era.

Harry Brook is probably ahead. The current Test vice-captain guided England to a 4-0 T20I series win over India that took them to the top of the T20I rankings and at times seemed to possess a sharp cricketing mind.

However, the new coach and the powers that be will have to decide whether Brook is ready for such a consuming role – he was overlooked as the interim leader for the Oval Test against New Zealand because of the Stokes nightclub saga after he became embroiled in his own nightclub drama ahead of an ODI in New Zealand.

If Brooke is the man, then the next question is can he captain in all three forms? If not, will he drop a white-ball task or two – and how will McCullum feel about that? It’s all a bit complicated…

Apart from Brook, the Test-captaincy candidates currently in the squad are likely to be limited to returning to Root – who stood out for Stokes vs New Zealand – or boldly promoting Jacob Bethel. Options outside the team are slimmer. Ollie Pope, at a shock?

With that in mind, the onus is now on the new Test coach to bring in future leaders as well as pick one to lead England on the winter tour to South Africa and home to the Ashes next summer. I wonder if Stokes might get a call…

Working with white ball coach McCullum

While splitting the coaching role between red and white ball cricket will allow each leader to focus fully on one format – and therefore reduce the risk of burnout – England’s two head honchos need a strong relationship to make it work.

There is potential tension with Brook as captain, while neither McCullum nor the Test supremo will want to lose their best players to the other.

McCullum said there would be “vigorous” conversations with the Test coach to “achieve harmony and success” for English cricket, which could perhaps be read along the lines of: “My assets will not be taken away.”

Test cricket, with that home Ashes in a year’s time, is clearly the priority, hence why McCullum was relieved of his red-ball duties due to his instability.

But he will not want England’s excellent T20 form or his ambitions of fixing the eighth ODI team in the rankings and winning the 2027 50-over World Cup to be derailed.

England supporters want success on all fronts – there is no global white-ball trophy until 2022 – and the coaches must align to make that possible.

Fix boozing and off-field discipline

There have been more booze-related incidents in England than their Test team’s late win, Brook’s scrap with a bouncer in New Zealand – for which he was fined £30k – in the Ashes Test and then Stokes and Gus Atkinson’s try-break night with Ben Duckett seemingly intoxicated during a pilloried beach break in Noosa.

How clear the curfew was remains, well, unclear (whether Stokes and Atkinson believed it was no longer enforced with the two out after Not during a Test?) And that’s another black mark that can be labeled against this team: lack of attention to detail.

We saw that in their preparations before the Ashes, there was just one warm-up game before the Perth Test – and not a particularly effective one, played on a soft surface at Lilac Hill that was no way a match for the bouncy deck they had at Optus Stadium. And we all know what happened there then…

Batters driving out on ad vomit as England threw away a golden position. Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick would later say that there was no discussion about playing those shots on this surface. Really?!

Andy Flower, seen by many as an outstanding candidate for a Test role, may no longer be the “mood hoover” that Kevin Pietersen described during his previous spell in charge – franchise gigs seem to have loosened him up – but discipline is one of his key assets, so you get the feeling that drinking and general sleep will be off on his watch.

It needs to be stopped on anyone’s watch.

Stokes replaces and nails the best XI

Stokes’ exit – unless he can indeed be lured away – deprives England not only of a talismanic captain but also of a gunnery all-rounder, even as his batting form falters towards the back of his Test career with just one century to go from the 2023 Ashes.

There are no easy solutions here, although Sam Curran is a seam-bowling all-rounder option – his left-arm angle could be useful – while Rehan Ahmed offers a spin-bowling option. Ahmed’s inclusion at number seven allows England to play four frontlines quickly.

Most of the batting spots look fragmented: Bethel at No.3, Root at No.4, Brooke at No.5 and perhaps, after a timely century vs. New Zealand, Duckett as an opener. Duckett’s top-order colleague is perhaps not so sure, with Emilio Gay notching two fifties against the Kiwis but then tailing off.

Other county openers will feel they have a chance.

The same will apply to the spinners, who have made Shoaib Bashir their pet project, with Stokes and McCullum no more. Bashir has potential, no doubt, but the new Test coach may want someone with more real stats behind them.

Jamie Smith can also sweat as a wicketkeeper-batsman. After a lackluster Ashes, he was unremarkable against New Zealand, although he was replaced at The Oval while on paternity leave, James Rew, toiling away with bat and gloves.

Matches and big series wins

Of all the objectives on a coach’s to-do list, this is right at the top of it.

The end of the baseball era saw just three wins from the last 12 matches, while the entire baseball era saw no series wins against Australia and India – the rivalries on which England are judged – with those teams drawing 2–2 at home and batting 4–1 away.

Whoever takes over should not abandon every buzz-ball principle as an attacker, in-your-face cricket has put England in too many match-winning positions over the last four years – only for players to spread too wide and then take those positions without reining themselves in. Watch Lord’s 2023, Rajkot 2024 and Perth 2025

The job is to cut out the brainless bits and ensure refinement and responsibility while the game is in the palm of England’s hands, as English fans obviously enjoy entertaining cricket, they love winning cricket even more. And they love a win against Australia more than anything.

That opportunity arises again next summer, which makes this coaching appointment crucial.