Those who believe Brendon McCullum is making it up as he goes along were given more ammunition on Sunday when the England head coach indicated Ollie Pope will lose the vice-captaincy to Harry Brook and possibly his place in the team altogether come the Ashes.
Less than two months before England land in Australia, the timing was hardly ideal.
Yet in a Bazball universe where decisions often seem to be made up on the hoof, it is hardly a surprise.
Speaking after England’s home summer ended with a washed out T20 against South Africa at Trent Bridge, McCullum did the interview rounds ahead of a winter that will see him take the white-ball squad on a tour of his native New Zealand before the biggest series of them all kicks off in Perth on 21 November.
Among the standout lines were positive updates on the fitness of captain Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood, who McCullum said would be “cherry ripe” come the Ashes.
Pope’s form tailed off dramatically after scoring a century against India (Photo: Getty)However, it was the admission Pope’s place in the team and his role as vice-captain were both under threat that really stood out.
“You’re always looking at things, right?” McCullum said of the vice-captaincy.
“Every time you get together with a series, you discuss things. I think it’s no secret Harry Brook is emerging as a leader within English cricket, so that’s something we need to work out.”
Brook’s elevation to the white-ball captaincy means it makes sense for him to be Stokes’ deputy in Australia, especially with no guarantee the latter will be fit enough to last the series.
Stripping Pope of the vice-captaincy also makes him vulnerable to losing his place in the XI.
Having been backed this summer to continue in the pivotal No 3 role, Pope tailed off dramatically after scoring a century in his first innings of the series against India.
That early score seemed to have ended the debate about whether Jacob Bethell might replace Pope at three.
Bethell’s poor return when he came into the team for the final Test against India at The Oval, making scores of six and five from No 6, appeared to strengthen Pope’s place ahead of the Ashes.
The emergence of Jacob Bethell is proving to be a thorn in his side (Photo: Getty)Yet things shifted during the white-ball series against South Africa after Bethell scored a magnificent first hundred in the final ODI at Southampton earlier this month.
“We’ll slow ourselves down a bit there, we’ll wait till we get down there before we start making those decisions,” was McCullum’s reply as to whether Pope would remain at three in Australia.
It is hardly a ringing endorsement and suggests that at best for Pope, he could be involved in a bat-off with Bethell during England’s only warm-up match against the Lions in Perth in mid-November.
Kicking the Pope-Bethell debate down the road until the eve of the Ashes is a dangerous game for McCullum to play.
England need to be settled and fully focused to stand a chance in Australia.
This situation risks unsettling everyone and was wholly avoidable given many were arguing for Bethell to replace Pope at the start of the summer.
It is understood there is some difference in opinion between senior figures about who should bat at No 3.
McCullum, though, was left in no doubt Bethell has what it takes to perform in Australia after he excelled when being thrown into last winter’s Test series in New Zealand, scoring three half-centuries in as many matches.
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Yet the treatment of Bethell this summer has been poor, with a lack of first-class cricket setting him up to fail when he got his chance in that final Test against India.
Everybody, including Bethell, would surely be in a better position now had the 21-year-old been given the whole India series to bed himself in at No 3.
Now, as he leads an under-strength England squad to Ireland this week for a three-match T20 series, Bethell’s status as his country’s youngest-ever captain will be overshadowed by more speculation about this winter’s Ashes.
It risks turning the Ireland trip – and the one to New Zealand that follows – into a circus.
And it could all so easily have been avoided had McCullum and England been braver earlier in the summer.
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