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Brendon McCullum and Rob Key have been backed to lead England’s response to the winter’s grisly Ashes defeat in Australia, with Richard Gould, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, insisting that while it may not be a popular decision, it is the right one.
At Lord’s on Monday, and with Key, the managing director of cricket, sitting next to him, Gould stressed that lessons have been learned from the 4-1 defeat and that the head coach in particular is willing to “adapt” and “evolve” his style. Even with an appetite for change among the public, the status quo holds, as exclusively revealed by the Guardian this month.
Gould said: “There is [that] sentiment in some parts and we do keep a very close eye on all of our supporters. But neither are we going to select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign. We’re going to do it based on good judgment and objective views.
“My old man was a football manager [the former Wimbledon and Wales coach Bobby Gould] and sacking was part of the job. But it didn’t necessarily do the right thing. Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That’s not the route we’re going to take.
“I’ve seen the driving ambition and determination we’re lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes. It may not be the popular route, it may not be the easiest route, but I think it’s the right route.”
While an internal two-month review into the Ashes gives the impression of the ECB marking its own homework, Gould, without naming names, said he had spoken to outsiders. The review will not be published, although two slides with bullet points were presented to the media.
One was essentially a list of names in the selection process, the other being areas of particular focus. These included better use of the performance system, better long-term planning and improved culture and environment ie greater professionalism in the senior men’s set-up.
The latter became an acute talking point over the winter, including the mid-Ashes break in Noosa that invited headlines about drinking. It then came to head when it was revealed that Harry Brook had been disciplined for a drunken altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand the evening before he was due to captain England in a one-day international.
Gould described it as “significantly unprofessional”, while Key said that while he considered sacking Brook as white-ball captain, his previous clean slate in this regard – plus the decision to put England ahead of playing in the Indian Premier League – called for a second chance.
The upshot during the second half of the winter was the introduction of a midnight curfew, something Gould said simply formalised McCullum’s belief that nothing good ever comes from being out late. “We want to give people the freedom to make their own decisions, but sometimes we also need to provide them with more strict parameters.”
In terms of performance, Key put plenty of stock in the recent appointment of Troy Cooley, who worked with quick bowlers in the 2005 Ashes-winning side and returns to oversee the fast-bowling landscape more broadly. There was also an acceptance that communication with the counties needs to improve, with various directors of cricket invited to a meeting this week. “You just want to lift English cricket up as much as you can in all departments,” Key said.
As regards the Test team, there was an admission from Key that McCullum and Ben Stokes, the captain, had different outlooks at times – McCullum more aggressive, Stokes more conservative – but this was healthy. “There’s been no big argument, no big bust up,” he said.
“Everyone’s always trying, when you’re under pressure, especially against a very good side, to be able to make decisions and help people perform under the toughest conditions.
“What we’ve really all agreed on now is that we don’t want a massive change of style. We don’t want a change of philosophy so you’re asking Brendon McCullum to be someone completely different. Because as a leader, if you’re not authentic, you’re done.”
