Eoin Morgan backs Brendon McCullum to take on England white-ball head coach job alongside Test role | Cricket News

Eoin Morgan has backed England’s Test head coach Brendon McCullum for the white-ball vacancy alongside his current role, saying he is “one of the best coaches in the world”.

Matthew Mott stepped down from his position as England’s white-ball head coach with immediate effect earlier this week after two years in office.

The ECB confirmed the change after England failed to defend their T20 World Cup title under Mott last month, scraping out of the group stage before suffering a heavy semi-final defeat to eventual champions India.

That tournament followed England’s disappointing 2023 Cricket World Cup campaign, where they failed to progress from the group stage as defending champions, crashing out of the 50-over tournament in India and losing their crown to Australia.

“In my eyes at the moment, you would go to Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum,” Morgan told Sky Sports.

“I say that because I believe he is one of the best coaches in the world. You can see what he did with the England Test team.

“Yes, the big question will be how he makes it fit over the course of the 12 months, but from Rob Key’s point of view, he needs to make the job attractive.

“The option is not to have someone come in and let them grow in the job. You’re talking about winning World Cups and winning Champions trophies.

“This is not an opportunity for a young guy to come in. You want the best person on the planet to come in and help Jos Buttler and the England cricket team get better.”

Over the past two years, captain Ben Stokes and McCullum have revitalised Test cricket with England winning 17 of their 25 games, losing only eight and drawing one.

Most recently, England completed a comprehensive 3-0 clean sweep over West Indies in which debutants Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson starred, with the latter becoming the fifth player under Stokes and McCullum to take a five-for on Test debut.

“I’m not sure McCullum has been given a lot of thought and if anything he should,” added Morgan.

“Key should have that conversation because we’ve seen a dramatic turnaround in the England Test team and the foil that he’s made with Stokes.

“I’ve played under Brendon as a coach. We’ve seen what he’s done in New Zealand cricket over the years and the success that he’s had.

“He’s a very versatile, more than capable coach who is highly, highly regarded, who ultimately has made the England Test team a better side, which is what you want from your head coach.”

World Cup-winning captain Morgan dismissed himself as a contender for the role, telling Sky Sports “the timing is not right” for him earlier this month.

“I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple months about the role and whether I would take it on. My answer has simply been, the timing for everything in my life at the moment is not right,” Morgan told Sky Sports.

“Yes, I want to coach down the line, but I’ve got a young family and I spend a lot more time at home. I’m loving what I’m doing, watching cricket through this [commentating].”

Captain Buttler, whose position also came under scrutiny after the two hugely disappointing World Cup title defences in the space of eight months, will continue leading the white-ball side.

Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will take charge on an interim basis for the rest of the home summer as England prepare for a multi-format white-ball series against Australia which starts on September 11 and the Champions Trophy campaign which will take place in Pakistan in 2025.

England are next in action in a three-Test series against Sri Lanka that gets under way at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday August 21. Watch live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am (first ball bowled at 11am).

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