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Follow UsEngland’s Test captain Ben Stokes said handing over the coaching reins of the white-ball team to Brendon McCullum is "an unbelievable move" and Jos Buttler will “really, really enjoy having him as his coach”.
The England and Wales Cricket Board announced on September 3 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.
England won the 2022 T20 World Cup under Matthew Mott but were way below par in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup. As a result, the 50-year-old was sacked from his role.
McCullum has reinvigorated England's Test set-up alongside 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.
"I was very surprised by the news. First and foremost, I think it's an unbelievable move for English cricket to go back to having a coach in charge of all the teams. You look at what Baz has achieved with the Test side, it's been amazing,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Stokes as saying.
"I'm really excited for the white-ball team to have the opportunity to be able to work with Baz, listen to him speak, his opinions. How his outlook on life reflects cricket, if that makes sense.
"I think Jos is going to really, really enjoy having him as his coach to work with. And you look at all the new faces who are coming into that white-ball team now, I couldn't think of a better person for them to come in and work under at international level for the first time.
"He just gives everyone the platform to go out and enjoy themselves. That doesn't always necessarily mean it's going to reflect on your performances, but Baz never puts any added pressure on anybody's shoulders whatsoever so far.
"If there was any selfishness, selfishness within me, I would be saying 'no, please don't'. But I'm an English fan, I'm an England cricket fan and I couldn't think of a better person to be appointed to be the new coach of the white-ball team as well."
Stokes is also unsure whether he will be available for the first Test in Pakistan, starting on October 7. The ace all-rounder is recovering from a torn left hamstring, and England are currently being led by Ollie Pope in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka.
"The recurrence rate of these injuries is 50%, which is quite high. I'd rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse and then putting myself out of the game for longer. I'm just making sure that I'm doing everything right and everything I possibly can to try and give myself a chance to being fit for that first Test,” said Stokes.
"I got told straight away that, within a couple of days, you'll feel good as gold. That doesn't mean that it's healed. So you have to be careful.
"I've stayed around the team because I wanted to be here, but as well, so I'm around the medical team every day. Because anything that I can do, even if it gives me a chance of being back three or four days earlier than initially thought, it's done its job.
"Rehab with hamstrings is incredibly boring, I've found out. It's the first one I've done and I can't really do that much except walk around. I've just started doing some double-leg stuff so I can load my left leg now.
"The doctor, our physio and our S&C (strength and conditioning) coach are trying their hardest to rein me back in. I'm constantly saying, 'Oh, can we do some running next week? Can I play golf tomorrow?' It's all a bit of wind-up."
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