Brendon McCullum has been sacked as England’s Test coach just five weeks before the next series against Pakistan – with Andy Flower leading the way to take over.
McCullum will continue to lead the white-ball teams ahead of next year’s 50-over World Cup in southern Africa but has been relieved of his duties of the Test team just two weeks after England lost their first series of the summer against New Zealand.
The i Paper understands Flower is the England & Wales Cricket Board’s No 1 choice to take over – with one source saying they are going “all out” to land the man who led England to their last away Ashes series win in Australia in 2010-11.
Andy Flower is currently the head coach of London Spirit in The Hundred (Photo: Getty)Flower would be a compelling pick to lead the team just 11 months before the start of another series against the Australians on home soil next summer.
He led England to No 1 in the world in Test cricket in 2011 and was a fearsome and effective head coach in his first stint in the job between 2009 and 2014 – when he won the Ashes three times and led the team to landmark series wins in Australia and India.
McCullum should have been sacked after last winter’s 4-1 Ashes humiliation in Australia but the decision has been delayed to mid-summer.
The timing suggests a successor is already in place, with the only stumbling block to Flower taking over being his lucrative franchise coaching jobs that would require the ECB to spend big money on convincing him to return.
In a press release that suggested McCullum had stood down voluntarily, the ECB said: “Brendon McCullum will stand down as England men’s Test head coach but continue to lead the England men’s white-ball teams.
“McCullum’s tenure as Test head coach will come to an end after four years in charge, having led the England team through one its most exciting and progressive periods in its Test playing history.”
Lower down, though, McCullum’s own comments let the cat out of the bag when he said: “Of course I’m gutted not to be continuing, but I respect the decision.
“My focus now is on giving everything I’ve got to the white-ball teams and helping England keep moving forward.”
Harry Brook and Joe Root are the primary candidates to replace Ben Stokes (Photo: Getty)McCullum’s contract worth up to £2m a year had been a barrier to England sacking him before now.
But with him leading England to the top of the T20 world rankings following the 4-0 series win against India, his partial dismissal works well from an optics perspective and will save the ECB some money on his contract before it runs out at the end of next year.
The retirement of Test captain Ben Stokes during the final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge last month weakened McCullum’s position given the strained relationship between the pair.
Harry Brook is the favourite to take over the Test captaincy right now but the appointment of a new coach – particularly if it’s Flower – means the chances of Joe Root regaining the job are now higher.
England’s director of cricket Rob Key said: “Some of England’s most memorable moments in recent history have occurred under Brendon’s leadership of the Test team.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to watch him shape the mentality of the team, to one the players have loved, and see him develop a new generation of talent who will be at the heart of England teams for years to come.
“He leaves the Test team well-set and poised to achieve great things.”
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Chris Stocks: Eleven days that transformed the mood in English cricket County Championship: England quick turns down big-money Yorkshire moveEngland initially impressed under McCullum’s tenure, winning 10 of their first 11 Tests under the new regime.
But results have tailed off over the past two years, with England losing seven of their last nine Tests and only Pakistan and the West Indies now below them in the World Test Championship table.
If Flower turns down the job, other leading contenders to land it would be former Australia coach Justin Langer, England Lions coach Andrew Flintoff, former captain Eoin Morgan and highly-rated Surrey coach Gareth Batty.
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