NEWS
Follow UsMoeen Ali, who announced his retirement from international cricket on September 8, believes having Brendon McCullum as England’s white-ball coach will help skipper Jos Buttler on a personal level. The spin-bowling all-rounder feels McCullum will take the pressure off Buttler and will bring out the best in him.
Earlier this month, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that McCullum would be in charge of both the Test and limited-overs teams from January 2025, coinciding with England's limited-overs tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy. McCullum’s new three-year deal will continue until the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
McCullum has reinvigorated England's Test set-up alongside Ben Stokes since 2022 and will seek to bring his attacking "Bazball" approach to the limited-overs teams. England are currently ranked seventh in ODIs and fourth in the T20I standings.
When McCullum took charge of England's Test side in May 2022 they were at a low ebb, with just one win in 17 games. But under his leadership they have won 19 of their 28 Tests and scored at a remarkably rapid rate.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Moeen said: "Brendon just brings this energy. It helps being somebody who's been there and done it, in the way he played.
"Sometimes, when the coach says 'go and do this', and they never did it themselves, it's quite difficult to take on. But Brendon brings that energy, and I think it'd be great for Jos more than anything, because he's got so much on his plate with batting, bowling, keeping, captaining and all that.
"Brendon will take the pressure off Jos, and he can just play as captain on the field. Brendon will be more in control, I think."
Moeen said Buttler will have men around him who will help him with decision making and give him that much-needed support both on and off the field. Phil Salt is set to captain England in the three-match T20I series against Australia, while Harry Brook could lead the ODI side if Buttler fails to recover on time for the five-match series.
"When Morgs (Eoin Morgan) initially took over, he didn't really have a right-hand man, but a good, tough captain produces leaders, and I think over time you'll get that," Moeen said.
"At the moment, obviously you've got Sam Curran and these guys who can lead, but sometimes as a vice-captain you can almost talk too much, and give too much advice.
"I felt that sometimes, maybe, I did that, but I think Jos will make everyone feel like they can come and speak to him. He's very approachable, but I think he will do his own thing. There's a lot of leaders out there who potentially can be great leaders in the future."
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