Brendon McCullum.Credit: Getty Images
In the words of Jason Gillespie, who has coached in England and Australia after a storied Test career as a fast bowler, “I’m not sure if any coach in the history of professional sport has been given the amount of rope Brendon McCullum had”.
Raised in a working-class environment in the wintry surrounds of Dunedin, McCullum was the son of Stuart, a professional cricketer for Otago, and showed plenty of early talent as a rugby player – to the point he was once picked ahead of Dan Carter for a schoolboys rep team.
McCullum was forcefully encouraged to focus on cricket, however, by no less a figure than Sir Richard Hadlee, setting him on the path to a long career with New Zealand and ultimately the England job.
All the way through, McCullum showed the pugnacity of a rugby player, but also developed the emotional intelligence and perspective to lead a room of young men. Pivotally, he tuned into a “no consequences” approach in the wake of Phillip Hughes’ death in 2014, when he had to captain the Black Caps in a Test match that was taking place at the same time in the UAE. Gilbert Enoka, the psychologist who he confided in at the time, has been part of England’s set-up on this tour.
Matthew Hayden, who played alongside McCullum at the Brisbane Heat, is a defender of his approach, and does not think England need to hire an Australian to succeed in the Ashes on these shores.
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“I back Brendon McCullum in this role, the way he processes the game, even the way he was getting fired questions around one or two members of the team, he tends to sit back quite nicely and look at the person before the player,” Hayden says. “That’s a very strong skill set Brendon does have because we (cricketers) are a very unique group of individuals who travel around the world together and play in the same side.
“But they’ve got very different roles. You have to stand on your own two feet, without being individualistic, so it’s a very tricky balance. I don’t think it’s a prerequisite [to be Australian] to coach England in this country.
“I think Brendon will have enough effort and resolve and experience and knowledge. England are not out of the series. But when I look down at the resolve of the Australian players, they have had extraordinary resolve as a group. The only person I see from England who has done that is Ben Stokes.”
After the early rush of success for Bazball, as England broke records and won some thrilling matches, it appeared that Stokes and McCullum were building something capable of challenging Australia Down Under.
But the team has changed over that time. There’s no more Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad, longtime assistant coach Paul Collingwood has disappeared from view, and in Harry Brook, Ben Stokes has a callow vice-captain with a loose batting approach.
Stokes’ words after the Gabba Test were pointed in criticising his players, contending that Australia is not the place for “weak men”, and that there would need to be frank dressing room discussions about the way forward.
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After four days in Noosa, something McCullum pointed out had been planned a year ago, the coach leaned towards the fact it would be wrong for England to “chop and change” from what they had believed would work in Australia. But better execution of skills with bat and ball would be key.
“We came here with high hopes and expectations, we had a plan that we felt was going to be successful, [and] give us the best chance of being successful,” McCullum said. “We haven’t quite executed that so far and Australia have seized those key moments, hence they sit 2-0 up.
“It doesn’t mean we throw that plan out now. If anything it means we need to chisel out some of the things we haven’t got quite right and make sure we still have that conviction in what we’re trying to achieve. I think these conditions should suit our style a little bit better as well … this is probably more attuned to our best style of cricket.”
Having committed to that plan, including the avoidance of warm-up matches against quality opposition – despite Cricket Australia’s offers – McCullum will now sit back and see whether this series turns the way of the 2023 contest, or reverts to the more familiar tale of English woe in Australia. Either way, he will still be committed to the mindset that got him the England job in the first place.
“Whatever happens is outside your control,” McCullum said. “You just try and hold the fort, make sure the confidence in the players remains high, you protect the environment. I will never shy away from protecting my players, that’ your job as a leader. There’s times where you have to take your own scrutiny on board, and that’s fine.
“That’s why you’re in the job. You sign up for these jobs because you know you’re tough enough to handle those situations, and you have a layer of protection so the boys’ confidence doesn’t dip too far.”
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