{"id":192917,"date":"2026-07-12T15:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=192917"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:33:10","slug":"ashes-hangover-led-to-mccullum-sacking-says-atherton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=192917","title":{"rendered":"Ashes hangover\u2019 led to Mccullum sacking, says Atherton"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Brendon McCullum\u2019s sacking as England Test coach announced Sunday is part of a \u201clong hangover\u201d from a woeful Ashes tour of Australia, according to former England captain Michael Atherton.<\/p>\n

McCullum will remain in charge of the white-ball set-up but England are now looking for both a new Test coach and captain ahead of next month\u2019s series with Pakistan after Ben Stokes announced his international retirement during the recent series-losing clash against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.<\/p>\n

While England\u2019s \u2018Bazball\u2019 era under McCullum and Stokes started with several thrilling wins four years ago, a 4-1 Ashes series loss in Australia concluded in January and the subsequent defeat by McCullum\u2019s native New Zealand, both marred by off-field drinking incidents, cast doubt over his methods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Test team has been struggling for some time,\u201d Atherton, who led England in 54 Tests between 1993 and 2001, told Sky Sports News<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have lost seven of their last nine, they are languishing somewhere towards the bottom of the World Test Championship.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:<\/b>England\u2019s Knight in shining armour walks into the sunset at Lord\u2019s<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really a long hangover from the Ashes. They sold themselves short there- there has obviously been continuing problems since then, with the loss to New Zealand and the off-field stories. Something had to give.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atherton added: \u201cBecause the Ashes went so badly, it left them (the England hierarchy) with very little wriggle room if things went wrong after that — and things went wrong against New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nasser Hussain, another ex-England captain called for the return of Andy Flower as Test coach, with the Zimbabwean guiding England to three Ashes series wins between 2009-14 and taking the side to Number one in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Flower\u2019s approach to coaching- he was meticulous in everything that he did,\u201d said Hussain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is what has been lacking in this England Test match side. I would do anything if I was (managing director) Rob Key and the ECB to go and get Andy Flower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Vaughan, England\u2019s 2005 Ashes-winning skipper, said wholesale change was required within the red-ball set-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough is enough, we need to move on,\u201d he told the Stick to Cricket<\/i> podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way in a million years that this management group is maximising… and I hate using the word talent now because talent only takes you so far, and we keep saying there are a talented group of players – well, they keep losing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published on Jul 12, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brendon McCullum\u2019s sacking as England Test coach announced Sunday is part of a \u201clong hangover\u201d from a woeful Ashes tour of Australia, according to former England captain Michael Atherton. McCullum will remain in charge of the white-ball set-up but England are now looking for both a new Test coach and captain ahead of next month\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":192918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-12T143837Z_1550105316_RC2NLLAFP6O0_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-ENG-NZL-PREVIEW.JPG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":176191,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=176191","url_meta":{"origin":192917,"position":0},"title":"England aims to erase Ashes scars against New Zealand","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"England will have a chance to prove it has learned from its Ashes drubbing when it faces New Zealand in the first Test of its home season at Lord\u2019s on Thursday. 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Mccullum, who will continue to be the head coach of the team in ODIs and T20Is took over as England\u2019s Test coach in May 2022 following a 1-0 away series defeat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-07T163629Z_1653900704_UP1EM771A4RKX_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-T20-ENG-IND.JPG?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-07T163629Z_1653900704_UP1EM771A4RKX_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-T20-ENG-IND.JPG?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-07T163629Z_1653900704_UP1EM771A4RKX_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-T20-ENG-IND.JPG?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-07T163629Z_1653900704_UP1EM771A4RKX_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-T20-ENG-IND.JPG?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-07T163629Z_1653900704_UP1EM771A4RKX_RTRMADP_3_CRICKET-T20-ENG-IND.JPG?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":188461,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=188461","url_meta":{"origin":192917,"position":2},"title":"Vaughan calls for England coaching staff makeover after Stokes exit","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"July 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged head coach Brendon McCullum and director Rob Key to resign following Ben Stokes\u2019s retirement from international cricket. 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