Untried with tested: England’s cricket leadership

Harry Brook may well find himself staring down the barrel of what could have been.

After a shock retirement from England captain and cherished all-rounder Ben Stokes in the third Test against New Zealand, and the subsequent stepping down of Brendon McCullum from the test coach position, ‘Bazball’ is officially over.

Four years of attacking cricket that revolutionized England cricket led to a collapse equalling its ephemeral success. The duo’s run began after a demoralizing period for England cricket, where Joe Root’s troops won one match out of 17 played.

The attacking brand of cricket that Brendon “Baz” McCullum employed with new captain Ben Stokes brought them immediate success, with 11 wins from their first 13 matches. Run chases of 277, 296, 299, and 378 were chased down against both 2021 World Test Championship finalists.

A run rate of 4.86 through the tenure highlighted their risk-taking approach, a far cry from their historical 3.24 runs per over. Yet, the high highs could not transpire in the Ashes down under, where England lost 4-1 away.

Following their lack of consistent wins against top teams, England’s red-ball unit came up short in 7 of their final 9 matches, forcing management to pull the plug on the experiment.

Instead of the future, England looks towards 35-year-old Joe Root as captain, a decision that has been and continues to be debated, given the batter’s lackluster results as leader, despite his form.

Root, who captained the second Test against New Zealand following Stokes’ one-game suspension, led the side in a loss by 253 runs. Despite a rueful record as captain in his last 20 matches, the management has put faith in the highest England run scorer in Test cricket over 27-year-old Harry Brook, who captains England’s white-ball formats.

Commentator and former England captain Nasser Hussain spoke on Brook’s absence from the red-ball leadership, “Sort yourself out, Harry, because I think you should be the next England Test cricket captain.”

“You need the mature Harry Brook to come out and it's been lacking,” Hussain said.

Steven Fleming takes the reins from fellow Kiwi McCullum, his first international coaching responsibility. Fleming is best known for his tenure with the Chennai Super Kings, whom he led to five IPL titles. He has coached for the SA20 and Major League Cricket’s Super Kings franchises, as well as for the Southern Brave in The Hundred.