The England tour of Australia was embarrassing and at times a farce but nobody is laughing now.
The worst pre-planned Ashes tour in my lifetime, and nobody is held to account or to blame? In the famous words of John McEnroe: “You cannot be serious.”
The review was done by Richard Gould, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, who has never played county or Test match cricket, and he decided nobody is to blame.
What planet is he on? Is he oblivious to what the majority of former England players and cricket journalists are saying? Gould says it will not be a popular decision to keep Brendon McCullum and he is damn right.
The ECB is accountable to the 18 counties and the chairmen of those counties should assert themselves and sack the chief executive for treating us, England cricket lovers like idiots.
The problem is most of the chairmen of the counties have limited cricket knowledge themselves and don’t know enough about cricket to take the ECB to task. They are businessmen who are only interested in money, so they will keep quiet.
Rob Key, the men’s director of cricket, should take a lot of blame for allowing this situation to become so ingrained in the coach, the players and the backroom staff. He appointed McCullum, and he is his boss. Key has played Test cricket and lots of county cricket, so he has no excuse for doing nothing.
Like me, cricket supporters will be asking how McCullum and Key could make so many bad decisions on the Australian tour and yet the chief executive of English cricket decides there is no need to make any changes. Where is the accountability?
I’m sure they promised him they would do better, but leopards don’t change their spots, so it looks like we will get the same type of Test cricket.
This summer, England will flatter by probably beating New Zealand and definitely beating Pakistan and our chief executive will preen himself saying “what a good job I did keeping Rob and Brendon”.
England were sabotaged by Key and McCullum’s incompetence
But what can never be erased is that the incompetence of Key and McCullum sabotaged our chances of defeating Australia in Australia when they were at their most vulnerable and there for the taking – that sort of opportunity rarely comes along. These two were in charge of selection, pre-planning and the mindset of the players, and they blew it.
And what should worry all of us is: can these two accept they got everything wrong in Australia, take constructive comments from ex-players and supporters, and up their game to win the Ashes in England in 2027?
I ain’t convinced! Are you?
If we play as badly in the next Ashes in England, then most of the ECB hierarchy should get the sack.
Nobody wants to see McCullum lose his job because we all respect, admire and appreciate what he has done for our England team. He has been a breath of fresh air for English cricket, freeing up the minds of the players and getting them to express themselves to give us some exciting cricket and magnificent wins.
I don’t say that lightly. It has been a joy to watch the transformation, seeing England smash some teams, but when they have come up against the big boys of India and Australia, they have self-destructed, making the same stupid mistakes.
The reason for that is the culture in the squad that McCullum has created for the players and coaching staff.
In trying to create a free-spirited team, he has made them too comfortable and complacent. They know they will not get dropped, whatever their performances or conduct on or off the field.
England won’t change under McCullum
Brendon has taken England so far but Australia was a wake-up call that things need to change if they are to get to the next level. So many things were bad, from no pre-planning, poor team selection and damaging headlines about a drinking culture.
It looks like a boys’ club where, once you are in the team, it is hard to get out. And, it is a very expensive club with the wages they are earning. Competition for places is the lifeblood of sport. Complacency in a team does not breed a good appetite to excel.
McCullum has been so good for English cricket that ideally you just want him to temper the batting attitude from attack all the time to playing the situation. Get players to think and be smarter and more responsible. Is that so difficult?
Move some of the failures on and find new youngsters. New blood brings anticipation, energy and excitement. It would also act as a gee-up to some senior players, too.
I don’t know anyone who wants to see him sacked but he is so stubborn. It’s his way or not at all. He views being forced to change as a sign of weakness. I believe being strong and bloodyminded can be a strength, but being dogmatic can be a weakness, too. So I don’t see him changing or being flexible.