Brendon McCullum said he “would love to carry on” as England head coach but added that a “hard conversation” was needed following a difficult winter away with the Test team.
McCullum praised England’s toughness and the “mental fortitude” of white-ball captain Harry Brook despite their T20 World Cup semi-final exit to India on Thursday, as they were edged out by just seven runs when chasing a massive 254 to win.
But looking back on the winter as a whole – which included a 4-1 drubbing by Australia in The Ashes – McCullum suggested that discussions needed to be had over the team’s playing style going forward.
“I think the white-ball side has been exceptional post-Ashes, winning away in Sri Lanka and then getting to this stage at the T20 World Cup,” McCullum told Sky Sports.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of India against England from the T20 World Cup semi-final.
“I think we have played some good cricket with a real identity about it under Brook’s captaincy.
“The Tests in Australia were disappointing. We went with high hopes and weren’t able to deliver. That is where you have to look at where you need to improve.
“Did we play the style of play we wanted to take down to Australia or did we not? If we’re being honest with ourselves, I would probably say we didn’t.
“That’s something we need to have a good, hard conversation around; what is the direction of style we want to be consistent with?”
McCullum added on his desire to continue in the role: “I love the job. It’s a great job. It doesn’t come without its challenges, of course, but that is the nature of it.
Brendon McCullum said he would “love” to stay on as England head coach
“I feel we have achieved some really cool things over the last few years but there is still so much to achieve with the side, across all formats.
“I would love to carry on, so we will see what unfolds over the next little while. Right now, after being on the road for a fair bit of time, it’s about getting home, watching some fast horses and playing some shocking golf.
“A bit of time to reflect, to let things land and objectively look at what is and isn’t working.
“We will see what happens. I would love to help lead the team through to the next stage.”
McCullum praises Brook’s ‘mental fortitude’ and England’s ‘toughness’
Prior to The Ashes in Australia, on a white-ball tour of New Zealand, Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer while out drinking the night before an ODI in Wellington.
Brook was fined £30,000 by the England and Wales Cricket Board and warned about his conduct.
Following their agonising semi-final exit to India at the T20 World Cup, McCullum was full of praise for his skipper.
“Harry Brook’s leadership throughout, after a couple of tough months leading in… for him to have the mental fortitude to be able to galvanise the team, and connect the side how he has, it’s been superb,” he said.
“He has been well supported by the likes of Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran – these are young guys – and Will Jacks, with four Player of the Match performances. There is a lot of encouragement there.”
McCullum added: “I think it has been a really good [T20 World Cup] campaign.
“We have been in some delicate situations and there has been an enormous amount of pressure throughout, particularly in the early games where you’re expected to win – and win well.
“There was an ability to find a way to win, a belief within the side.
“We’ve got a mantra that, yes, you want to win, but if you’re going to be beaten, you want to make sure you’re hard to beat – and I thought we did that tonight [in semi-final loss to India].
“To be chasing in excess of 250, at a hostile ground like this, with total Indian support, the toughness the lads showed to still believe and take the game as close as we did, I am incredibly proud.
“Obviously the ultimate goal was to win the trophy, but you don’t always get what you want.”
ANALYSIS: Should England management team stay on?
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain’s verdict…
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Nasser Hussain doubles down on England’s decision making and their missed opportunity to beat Australia during their Ashes series.
“First of all, I think what you have to get away from is losing the Ashes and throwing everything out. Get rid of the captain, get rid of the coach and you start all over again, going round in this cycle. I am never a fan of that. We have done it for years and it hasn’t worked.
“But what I am also not keen on is, come a couple of months later, forgetting how poor England were in The Ashes, how poor the planning was, how poor they were on and off the field, and all the mistakes that were made.
“I don’t mind going to Australia, giving yourself the best chance and losing, but England didn’t give themselves the best chance and mistakes were made, serious mistakes with preparation and some of the off-field decisions.
“So you can’t just move on and say ‘we nearly got to a T20 World Cup final and all is forgiven’. I would have to think about McCullum’s future.
“You feel that McCullum and Brook are aligned very closely in white-ball cricket and going in the right direction, but McCullum just said to us that he didn’t think the Test side played how they have done over the last few years, which suggests there was a divergence in The Ashes – that certain people wanted to go in one direction, and certain people in another.
“It is a concern if that’s happening. Everyone has to be aligned. One thing that stands out from the McCullum era is that everyone has been moving in the right direction, with the messaging from inside the dressing room crystal clear and the same – and that has to continue.
“All the mistakes they made in The Ashes, they have got right in the white-ball game. They went to Sri Lanka before the World Cup, played 50-over cricket and a T20 series and won both. They played in Pallekele where two of their Super 8s games were.
“They have made the right decisions with Will Jacks at No 7, moving Brook up to No 3, playing Rehan Ahmed against New Zealand for one game, recalling Sam Curran. Good decisions that they didn’t make in The Ashes. That’s what disappoints me.
“Brendon, Ben Stokes and Rob Key have made some really good, forward decisions in Test cricket and I was really looking forward to The Ashes. If they had carried on in that direction and made better decisions against an Australia side lacking some of their all-time greats, especially in the bowling department, [it could have been different]. You can’t just brush over that.
“Meetings have been held and they need to sit down and say what happened there because they let themselves down in The Ashes.”
Watch the T20 World Cup final between India and New Zealand at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 1pm, Sunday (1.30pm first ball).
