Former England fast bowler and Ashes winner Steve Harmison wants head coach Brendon McCullum to quit too in the wake of the international retirement of Ben Stokes on Sunday, during day four of the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
The 47-year-old, who played 63 Tests for England and took 226 wickets, is not happy with the Bazball cricket that McCullum has introduced in English cricket since taking over as a coach. After some initial success, it has floundered big time in recent months. They lost the Ashes 4-1 and, before they drew 2-2 at home against India. The ongoing series… they might end up losing too. They need 270 more to win with just six wickets in hand on the last day.
Harmison appears to be of the opinion that they were a partnership to take English cricket forward, and now that Stokes is not there, the New Zealander should go too. Plus, he doesn’t appear to like whatever England have achieved under McCullum.
“McCullum has got to go with him. And that’s it. If we’re gonna go through that conversation, McCullum’s got to go with him. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Brendon McCullum as a person, but this Bazball stuff, that’s not Test cricket. That’s amateur,” Harmison told Talksport Cricket.
“I’d love to know what Joe Root’s thinking of this, walking out to bat. I’d really love to know what Joe Root’s thinking about this whole last two-week period. But I think with Ben Stokes going now, Brendon McCullum’s influence on this team now, I’m not convinced it’s great for English cricket, especially in the Test Match Arena, with an Ashes series less than 12 months away,” he continued.
Shocking, to say the least!
Earlier, Stokes took the cricket world by storm by announcing his international retirement on day four of the third Test on Sunday. “It might sound quite selfish, but this decision is genuinely the best thing for me right now,” Stokes told Sky Sports.
“I hope it’s the best thing for the team going forward, but I also hope it’s what will allow me to keep loving this game that has given me so much.
“The Lord’s Test, for me, was something that brought back negative feelings about where I was in my career. I’d worked so hard since getting home [from Australia] to put things right, or at least that’s what I thought I was doing. I put so much time and effort into doing that, and I just burned myself out,” he added.
