Brendon McCullum has been told he must improve relations with the counties after being backed to stay on as England coach despite this winter’s 4-1 Ashes defeat.
The Guardian revealed the day after England’s T20 World Cup exit three weeks ago that McCullum would continue, a decision that will be confirmed on Monday by the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, Richard Gould, and managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key.
Gould and Key will also outline the details of the ECB’s post-Ashes review and the reasons for keeping faith with McCullum following England’s humbling in Australia.
As reported earlier this month, key to McCullum’s survival has been the New Zealander’s agreement to adopt a more rigorous approach to training and preparation during the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, where a midnight curfew was introduced, a change of approach that will be expected to continue.
In addition, the ECB has made clear to McCullum that more effort should be made to build good relationships with the counties, many of whom feel marginalised by the coach’s approach to selection.
The Surrey head coach, Gareth Batty, appeared to speak for many in the game last week when he said that the pathway between county and international cricket had become “misted over”, despite the fact that five Surrey players were on the Ashes tour, with three in England’s T20 World Cup squad.
Key has taken the first step by inviting the 18 county directors of cricket to Lord’s for a meeting next week to discuss their selection strategy, which will also be attended by the ECB’s performance director, Ed Barney.
The ECB is also in the process of appointing a new national selector to replace Luke Wright, who stood down after the World Cup for personal reasons.
One potential improvement to the current model that is being considered is to appoint liaison officers from within the counties to hold regular talks over selection with Key, McCullum and the new national selector.
