Brendon McCullum’s coaching career might have taken a new twist but he was confronted with a familiar failing in Birmingham as his one-day side slumped to a heavy defeat by India.
It has been, to say the least, a rollercoaster few days. On Saturday, his T20 side went top of the world rankings after completing a 4–0 hammering of the Indians in Southampton. On Sunday, England announced he had been sacked as Test coach. On Monday, he apologised to fans for the team’s failings.
Tuesday? That was just another 50-over defeat, this time by six wickets with 28 balls to spare, as India captain Shubman Gill followed his epic double of 269 and 161 here in last summer’s Test by scoring 80 off 75 balls before retiring hurt with cramp.
And it left white-ball captain Harry Brook reflecting not just on another one-day defeat, England’s 20th out of 30 since the end of the 2023 World Cup, but also on the coach’s change of circumstance.
‘It was disappointing for me,’ he said of McCullum’s sacking. ‘He’s played a massive part in my career, and he’s been awesome for me. He’s going to be missed.’
Did the players feel they had let their coach down? ‘There’s always that sense of letting yourself down,’ said Brook. ‘But you’re in the results business and we expect to win games of cricket.’
Harry Brook (right) has said he is ‘disappointed’ by Brendon McCullum’s (left) Test sacking
The duo will continue to work together with England’s white ball sides but their one-day team suffered a heavy defeat by India on Tuesday
English hopes briefly lifted when Gill’s retirement was followed by the run-out of Shreyas Iyer by Brook’s direct hit from midwicket, and the dismissal of KL Rahul, chopping on against Josh Tongue.
Virat Kohli had already gone for just five, trapped by Jofra Archer as he aimed across the line, and at 160 for four the tourists were still 99 short of victory, with Gill’s involvement uncertain and the Indian tail consisting of three No 11s.
But the spin-bowling all-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel held their nerve, to take a 1–0 lead in this three-match series ahead of Thursday’s second game in Cardiff.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse will be available again, having recovered from a hand and wrist injury that has ruled him out of international cricket since the Ashes, but England will need more than one new addition to transform their fortunes.
As electric as their recent T20 cricket has been, they remain also-rans in the 50-over format, and a lowly eighth in the rankings, having never come close to touching the heights they attained when they were crowned world champions in 2019. McCullum’s pre-match suggestion that they can challenge for the title next year in southern Africa sounded like one of the more outlandish claims made during the Bazball era.
It could have been worse. When Will Jacks was brilliantly caught low to his right by Rahul behind the stumps off Shivam Dube, England had somehow slipped from 61 without loss to 107 for six after choosing to make first use of a decent Edgbaston pitch.
Their collapse included Brook, who was caught at slip for a single from the first ball of a new spell by Jasprit Bumrah, before England earned a breather during a fighting seventh-wicket stand of 121 between Root and Liam Dawson, whose resourceful 68 was the highest score of his international career.
But thoughtless batting by the lower order left Root stranded on a run-a-ball 76, with 13 balls of the innings unused. It was enough to restore his ODI average to 50 for the first time in four years, even while the passage of play typified the carelessness that has become characteristic of England’s 50-over cricket.
Archer slogged to deep midwicket, Adil Rashid was stumped charging at Axar Patel, who then bowled Tongue to finish with four wickets. His unbeaten 57 in the evening sunshine confirmed him as the runaway player of the match.
