{"id":522789,"date":"2026-07-12T21:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/522789\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T21:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:02:13","slug":"brendon-mccullum-fired-as-england-test-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/522789\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendon McCullum fired as England test coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brendon McCullum<\/a> has been fired as coach of England’s test cricket team after four years in charge but will continue to lead the country’s T20 and ODI sides.<\/p>\n

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced overnight that McCullum “will stand down,” with the New Zealander saying in the ECB statement he was \u201cgutted not to be continuing\u201d with the test team \u2014 suggesting it was a decision taken by those above him.<\/p>\n

“But I respect the decision,” McCullum added. “My focus now is on giving everything I’ve got to the white-ball teams and helping England keep moving forward.”<\/p>\n

The announcement came two weeks after England’s series loss to New Zealand<\/a> \u2014 its first loss at home in a series of three tests or more since 2012.<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

England head coach Brendon McCullum attends a nets session in Nottingham, England, Monday July 6, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

That came on the heels of a 4-1 Ashes series loss Down Under in which the England team came under scrutiny for its perceived lack of professionalism.<\/p>\n

Ben Stokes quit international cricket<\/a> after the New Zealand series and now McCullum has gone, too, signalling the end of the so-called “Bazball” era \u2014 an entertaining but often flawed period for test cricket in England.<\/p>\n

“Brendon breathed new life into England men’s test team during an exciting period which saw some amazing victories, and we’re grateful for all he has given to the role,” said Richard Gould, chief executive of the ECB. “We now believe that the time is right to make a change for the test team as we target victory in the Ashes next summer.”<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

England head coach Brendon McCullum attends a nets session in Nottingham, England, Monday July 6, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The ECB called the “Bazball” era \u2014 when McCullum’s team played aggressive, fearless cricket \u2014 one of the most “exciting and progressive periods” in England’s test-playing history.<\/p>\n

“It’s been an absolute privilege to watch him shape the mentality of the team,” ECB director Rob Key said, “to one the players have loved, and see him develop a new generation of talent who will be at the heart of England men\u2019s teams for years to come.<\/p>\n

“He leaves the test team well-set and poised to achieve great things.”<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

England head coach Brendon McCullum attends a nets session in Nottingham, England, Monday July 6, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

McCullum said there had been \u201csome unbelievable highs and a few tough days along the way, but that\u2019s all part of taking on a challenge like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I wish the test team nothing but success,” he said. “There\u2019s a hell of a lot of talent in that dressing room and they\u2019re a special bunch of lads. I\u2019ll always be backing the boys, with a smile on my face, and hoping they keep taking the game on. I know they\u2019ll continue to make people proud.”<\/p>\n

England’s next test series is against Pakistan starting next month.<\/p>\n

McCullum has combined his white and red-ball roles since January 2025.<\/p>\n

England’s T20 team has just thrashed India 4-0 in a home series to become the No. 1-ranked side in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brendon McCullum has been fired as coach of England’s test cricket team after four years in charge but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213,1745],"class_list":["post-522789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}