How ‘Bazball’ can transform England’s white-ball fortunes in India
McCullum has been tasked with turning around the fortunes of the one-day side, writes Cameron Ponsonby, with the New Zealander creating an environment for them to flourish after his Test cricket revolution
Brendon McCullum and Jos Buttler are close friends. Which is lucky, because at McCullum’s unveiling as England’s new white-ball coach in September, he had a quip at his mate’s – and now captain’s – expense.
“He's been a little bit miserable at times,” McCullum said, tongue firmly in cheek, citing Buttler’s infamously poor poker face that had been on show throughout England’s consecutive poor World Cup performances.
It was a comment that only a friend could make. If you or I were to have told Buttler the first thing he should be doing is cheering up, we’d have been within our rights to find ourselves missing a few teeth shortly after, but from McCullum, the point stood.
“I saw that,” Buttler said with a smile a couple of months later. “Saying how miserable I am. It’s obviously something I need to work on.”
Now, four months after the announcement that McCullum would be taking the white-ball reins, the pair are finally brought together. McCullum’s official start date is 22 January, when England kick off with three ODIs and five T20s against India, before travelling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
McCullum is only here because things are going badly for England. When he took over as head coach of the Test team in 2022, he turned down the chance to add the white-ball team to his CV because there was no challenge there. The calendar was ram-packed and the team was flying. They’d promptly go on to win the T20 World Cup that year in Matthew Mott and Buttler’s first competition together.
But then things went south. The ODI-winning World Cup team of 2019 hardly had the chance to play together following their success and when the band got back together for the 2023 World Cup it was a disaster, as they lost six of their first seven matches. The 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean was the chance to rectify those wrongs. On paper, a semi-final exit should have been a respectable performance. In reality, England muddled their way there, winning only one of their four matches against fellow Test nations.
Those results were enough for Mott to be sacked and Buttler to fear he was about to be too. But after a heart-to-heart with men’s managing director Rob Key, Buttler decided that if Key still wanted him, he still wanted the job. And Key did.
McCullum’s appointment was a coup for the ECB. The demise of the side made the role attractive; the easing of the international calendar made it possible.
The Test side speaks of McCullum in doe-eyed, almost cult-like fashion. Grizzled professionals finding new joy in the sport that they have played for years. And that is operation number one for McCullum here – with Buttler the first player who will be in line for a charm offensive.
What makes McCullum’s hiring such a fit for England – and Buttler in particular – is his own experience as a player. McCullum’s ultra-attacking captaincy of New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup was the inspiration for Eoin Morgan to do the same with England and lead them to victory in 2019. And although McCullum’s Black Caps team lost in the 2015 final, he cites the period as one of the happiest of his career. His legend as a player had already been made and joy came from recognising that the last of his playing years could come from creating an environment that allowed others to flourish. After his appointment, he had a call with Buttler and told him as much.
Like McCullum, Buttler’s legend is already made. Arguably England’s greatest ever white-ball player, Buttler is at the stage where he could be looking to the franchise world for a few years of chasing cash, but after a chat with McCullum, he instead wants to play for England “as much as he can” and “help develop the next era of white-ball cricket”. Before a ball has even been bowled, McCullum’s impact has been felt.
The pair’s first squad has been subject to a quiet revolution. The suspicion after McCullum took the helm was that there would be a merging between the Test and white-ball setups and the initial evidence supports that.
The main headline is a return to ODI cricket for Joe Root, who hasn’t played since the miserable 2023 World Cup campaign, while Ben Stokes wasn’t considered after being ruled out for three months with a hamstring injury sustained in the Test series against New Zealand last month.
Out are previous white-ball regulars Will Jacks, Sam Curran and Reece Topley; while in are the likes of Test stars Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. Arguably the biggest winner, however, is 21-year-old Jacob Bethell, who has ascended from relative obscurity last summer to being close to the first name on the team sheet across formats. Bethell has made his way into the XI for the upcoming series, starting on Wednesday, where he looks poised to bat at six.
England’s tour of India begins on Wednesday as the first of five T20s is played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, before the three-match ODI series begins on 9 February and leads directly into the Champions Trophy.
On paper, England’s team is strong and cause for a smile on Buttler’s face. Their performances on the pitch will decide whether it remains there.