Joe Root has no time for talk of a change at the top. A week after England’s bruising Ashes campaign, the former Test captain spoke in Colombo and threw his weight behind Brendon McCullum, the head coach many feel is now under the microscope.
“I think Baz is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with,” Root said after England won the second ODI against Sri Lanka. “Obviously we’re disappointed with the way things went out in Australia, but I still think there’s a lot more really exciting things to come from this group.”
Those words go straight to the heart of the debate. England were thrashed in the Ashes and stories have circulated about an off-field culture that may have been a little too loose. Yet senior players keep fronting the cameras to defend the man in charge. Ben Stokes has already said he can’t imagine “someone else” stepping in, while Harry Brook went further, calling McCullum the best coach he has had “by a million miles”.
Root’s own numbers back up his loyalty. “If you look at my own personal game, the time that he’s been the coach, it’s improved tenfold,” he said. Since McCullum walked through the door in May 2022, Root has rattled off 16 Test hundreds, averages north of 56 and has, by any yardstick, been the side’s most reliable run-maker. That is hard evidence, not sentiment.
Key facts in brief
• England lost the recent Ashes 4-0, triggering questions about McCullum’s future.
• ECB managing director Rob Key is expected to stay on, so focus has sharpened on the coach.
• Senior players Stokes, Brook and now Root have publicly backed McCullum.
• Root’s Test record under McCullum: 16 hundreds in 46 Tests, average above 56.
All of that said, a section of supporters and a handful of former players still wonder if England need something different. The team’s ultra-aggressive approach – ‘Bazball’, if we must use the label – looked one-dimensional against Australia, and Stokes himself conceded after Sydney that opponents have started to figure England out. Whether McCullum tweaks the philosophy or digs in is for the ECB and the coach to resolve, but the conversation has begun.
“Obviously it’s more fun when you win,” Root added. “But I’m still having the best time of my life. I get to turn up and do the thing that I love every day with a great group of people, some brilliant minds and some experts that you can constantly keep improving and developing under.”
McCullum’s popularity inside the dressing-room is not in doubt. England have avoided the back-biting that sometimes follows a heavy series defeat, and players are still publicly united. That unity will carry weight when the ECB board sits down to review the winter.
Brook, meanwhile, finds himself rebuilding trust after a late-night scrape with a security guard on the eve of the New Zealand ODI series. Root sees the episode as a learning curve rather than a line in the sand. “I think it’s a natural feeling for anyone that’s made a mistake that you feel like you’ve let people down,” he said. “Harry’s a great fella and he’s going to be an incredible captain. He clearly feels bad about what happened, but from my side of things, he’s got a job to do and I think he’s doing it exceptionally well.”
That comment is as close as Root came to criticism. The overall tone stayed supportive, if realistic. England know they must adapt; they also believe McCullum remains the coach to make that happen. For now, with limited-overs matches in Sri Lanka still live and a home summer looming, the ECB seems inclined to hold its nerve.
Analysis (in plain English)
McCullum’s biggest selling point remains the dressing-room he has built. Players bat with freedom, bowlers are encouraged to attack and the group appears tight-knit. The downside is that the same freedom can, on tour, spill over. Coaching, like batting, is about judgment. When to push, when to pull back. Australia exposed the risks of a single-gear game plan, and McCullum’s response – tactical as well as cultural – will be the next test.
Yet, as Root insists, England have produced serious cricket under this regime. They won 11 of their first 13 Tests playing exactly that brand, and Root himself has flourished. Those runs, as much as any motivational speech, are why senior figures want continuity.
The ECB’s challenge is to separate a poor Ashes from the broader trend. One bad tour does not necessarily invalidate a philosophy; nor does it guarantee improvement just by sticking with it. What’s clear is the players’ stance. They want McCullum to stay, they believe he will evolve and they are willing to be judged by the results.
That, in the end, remains the only currency that counts.
