Bazball apology: McCullum owns up for failed England experiment

July 14, 2026 — 11:12am

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Brendon McCullum has apologised for failing to achieve Test series victories over Australia and India, leaving him open to being sacked as England coach by the ECB and bringing an end to Bazball.

England have already started the search for McCullum’s replacement as Test coach, with Andy Flower, Stephen Fleming and Rahul Dravid all considered possible candidates. Ryan Campbell, an Australian who is currently head coach at Durham, is also in the mix. Flower previously coached England between 2009 and 2014.

Still employed to mentor of the white-ball teams, McCullum spoke openly about the end of his time in charge of the Test side in Birmingham overnight, and accepted responsibility for the way the team crashed and burned under pressure.

“I got a tap on the shoulder,” McCullum said, confirming he had been sacked. “I was disappointed, not just initially, but at the same time I fully respect the decision. We’re in a results business and fundamentally our results weren’t good enough. It’s time for someone else to have a go.

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“India and Australia are the marquee series and if you don’t win those you haven’t quite been able to achieve what you wanted to. I thought we had opportunities against both of those quality oppositions and we achieved some good stuff over the four years but, fundamentally, the results didn’t live up to it at the back end; hence the decision was made.

“We just weren’t able to get the results and for that, I guess I can only say sorry.”

McCullum reiterated that he never appreciated the term “Bazball”, and explained the circumstances in which he and former skipper Ben Stokes had felt the radical approach could work.

Tellingly, a major part of the tack the team’s leaders took was to make international cricket an attractive environment for players who were considering a move to the T20 franchise circuit. In that context, there will be challenges for McCullum’s replacement in a far stricter ECB regime.

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“It was about trying to get the best out of these guys,” McCullum said. “Trying to initially bring some joy and some enthusiasm back into it. Understanding that these guys have options outside of playing for their country. They have options which have a lot less scrutiny, a lot more money and a lot less demands on them.

“And we wanted to create an environment off the back of COVID and some poor performances beforehand where guys were excited to jump in the car to Lord’s to meet up with the English cricket team, and were excited about taking on opposition teams and dealing with the scrutiny.

“To ultimately want to choose playing for England over the other option which comes with a lot less scrutiny around it. That was initially what we were trying to create. And then, as we went along, it was about trying to have an identity about how you wanted to play.”

England won some dramatic victories at home to New Zealand and South Africa in 2022, before also pulling off a couple of similarly spectacular wins in Pakistan. They drew with Australia 2-2 in 2023, failing to regain the Ashes, then lost away to India before drawing at home with them.

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A 4-1 defeat in Australia last summer was effectively the end of the Bazball project, although McCullum tried to hang on until a curfew scandal and a home series loss to New Zealand settled his fate.

“I think during that time, we just were not quite able to succinctly nail everything we wanted,” he said. “And hence when those pressure moments arrived in the biggest series, when pressure was at its highest, we unfortunately weren’t able to achieve it. For that, I put my hands up.

“I was the leader of that group. I was in charge of the team culturally, in charge of the team tactically, in charge of the team results-wise as well. If you don’t get the results, being a results business, fundamentally you get replaced.”

McCullum now finds himself in the same position as Matthew Mott, who took on the white-ball job opposite the Test side in 2022 and then was sacked two years later because McCullum wanted to run all formats. Flower has stated that his previous attempt to split the roles with Ashley Giles was a failure, so McCullum’s future is murky.

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“Motty is a good mate of mine and he was probably a bit unlucky,” McCullum said. “He didn’t get the contact time, but he maybe didn’t have the relationship when he first came in. I’m in a fortunate position where those relationships have been built over a period and maybe bit of reduced contact time won’t be such a big problem. There’s lots to unpack.”

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Daniel Brettig is The Age's chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.

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