London, September 4
England Test skipper Ben Stokes expressed his happiness with appointment of Test team coach Brendon McCullum as Three Lions' white-ball coach, saying that skipper "Jos Buttler will enjoy working with him" as he gives a platform to players to go out and express themselves.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday confirmed that Test head coach Brendon McCullum will also serve as the head coach of England's white-ball teams "as part of a strategic restructure" for the Three Lions senior set-up.
Speaking in an event in London on Wednesday, Stokes said that he was surprised by the news and termed it an "unbelievable move". He was excited by the idea of England's white-ball teams having McCullum, a destructive batter of his time, as their coach.
"I was very surprised by the news. First and foremost, I think it is an unbelievable move for English cricket to go back to having a coach in charge of all the teams. You look at what Baz has achieved with the Test side, it has been amazing," said Stokes as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I am really excited for the white-ball team to have the opportunity to be able to work with Baz, listen to him speak, his opinions. How his outlook on life reflects cricket, if that makes sense," Stokes added.
"I think Jos is going to really enjoy having him as his coach to work with. And you look at all the new faces who are coming into that white-ball team now, I could not think of a better person for them to come in and work under at international level for the first time," concluded Stokes.
The English Test skipper said that McCullum does give players freedom to express themselves and while it does not always reflect in their performances, he does not add any additional pressure on their shoulders. He also jokingly admitted that he would have not let McCullum go into the white-ball cricket coaching out of "selfishness" but he is an "England cricket fan" who feels that there is no one better than McCullum for the job.
"He just gives everyone the platform to go out and enjoy themselves. That does not always necessarily mean it is going to reflect on your performances, but Baz never puts any added pressure on anybody's shoulders whatsoever so far," said Stokes.
"If there was any selfishness, selfishness within me, I would be saying 'no, please don't'. But I'm an English fan, I'm an England cricket fan, and I could not think of a better person to be appointed to be the new coach of the white-ball team as well," he concluded.
McCullum has been sitting at the helm of England's Test team since May 2022 and has helped them play a more attacking and positive style of cricket, dubbed as 'Bazball' by the media. He has extended his contract, which will run until the end of 2027. Under his new contract, McCullum will replace Matthew Mott after failures to defend 2023 50-over World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup titles and assume leadership of both the Test and white-ball teams starting January 2025, coinciding with England's white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy next year.
Marcus Trescothick, who was announced as the interim head coach following the departure of Mott, will continue with his role for England's upcoming series against Australia and the tour of the West Indies.
After England's ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka concludes at the Kia Oval next week, McCullum will take a short break at home in New Zealand. He will link up with the Test team for their winter tours of Pakistan in October and the three-match Test series against New Zealand in December.