New Delhi, Aug 1, 2024
Former England captain Eoin Morgan believes Brendon McCullum is the ideal person to take over from Matthew Mott as the side’s white-ball head coach and is confident of the ex-New Zealand skipper to do the job alongside his red-ball coaching role.
Earlier this week, Mott stepped down from being England’s white-ball head coach after two years in the term, where the side were unable to defend their ODI and T20 World Cups. For now, assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will take charge of the white-ball side on an interim basis, especially with the series against Australia coming up.
“In my eyes at the moment, you would go to Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum. I say that because I believe he (McCullum) is one of the best coaches in the world. You can see what he did with the England Test team.”
“Yes, the big question will be how he makes it fit over the course of the 12 months, but from Rob Key’s point of view, he needs to make the job attractive. The option is not to have someone come in and let them grow in the job. You’re talking about winning World Cups and winning Champions trophies.”
“This is not an opportunity for a young guy to come in. You want the best person on the planet to come in and help Jos Buttler and the England cricket team get better,” said Morgan on Sky Sports Cricket during the broadcast of The Hundred.
As head coach of the Test team, McCullum has forged a strong partnership with captain Ben Stokes, resulting in England winning 17 of their 25 games so far in the format, while losing only eight matches and drawing one.
“I’m not sure McCullum has been given a lot of thought and if anything he should. Key should have that conversation because we’ve seen a dramatic turnaround in the England Test team and the foil that he’s made with Stokes.”
“I’ve played under Brendon as a coach. We’ve seen what he’s done in New Zealand cricket over the years and the success that he’s had.
He’s a very versatile, more than capable coach who is highly, highly regarded, who ultimately has made the England Test team a better side, which is what you want from your head coach,” added Morgan, who captained England to 2019 ODI World Cup win.
Though Morgan’s name has also done the rounds for the England white-ball coach job, he has ruled himself out of the contention. “I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple months about the role and whether I would take it on. My answer has simply been, the timing for everything in my life at the moment is not right.”
“Yes, I want to coach down the line, but I’ve got a young family and I spend a lot more time at home. I’m loving what I’m doing, watching cricket through this (commentating),” he concluded.(Agency)
