Test captain greets ECB choice to hand ropes to coach across platforms
Ben Stokes says the choice to engage Brendon McCullum as England men's fresh limited-overs coach is" an incredible move", and believes his effect will be particularly beneficial to the new era of players who are set to appear through the white-ball set-up in the coming months.
McCullum did play both roles starting in 2025 under a fresh three-year package that may extend his playing time in English cricket until the end of 2027, according to the ECB's announcement on Tuesday. With the assistance of Stokes, McCullum has underwritten a change in lifestyle and outcomes since taking the red-ball position in May 2022.
In that time, a more liberated England won 19 of their 28 Test matches. That in turn led to six series victories, with just one defeat, being won apart from India at the beginning of this year.
By comparison, England's white-ball set-up has struggled as the beautiful generation that lifted the 2019 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup came to the end of their existence cycle. Matthew Mott, who was appointed alongside McCullum to handle limited-overs things, stepped down in July following disappointing exhibitions at the 2023 50-over World Cup and the T20 book earlier this summer.
Then, Bazball will have across all rules. McCullum's work initially will be to support the ability transition across England's 50-over and T20I squads, as he has done efficiently with the Examine side. After deciding against leaving the T20 World Cup, Stokes may now be eligible for the Champions Trophy at the start of 2025 with more clarity regarding his limited-overs potential.
Speaking at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London, Stokes- a Red Bull sport- can only see the benefit of McCullum's appointment, particularly for limited-overs captain Jos Buttler. Harrison teased he even might have had a side in the interview.
" I was quite surprised by the reports", Stokes joked to ESPNcricinfo. " I think it's incredible for English cricket to once again have a coach in charge of all the squads," he said. You look at what Baz has achieved with the Test area, it's been remarkable.
" I'm really excited for the white-ball team to have the opportunity to be able to operate with Baz, talk to him talk, his thoughts. How his outlook on life reflects cricket, if that makes sense.
" I think Jos is going to really, really like 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 n't think of a better person for them to come in and work under at international level for the first time.
He simply allows people to like themselves while traveling. That does n't always necessarily mean it's going to reflect on your performances, but Baz never puts any added pressure on anybody's shoulders whatsoever so far.
" If there was any selfishness, selfishness within me, I would be saying' no, please do n't'. However, I'm an English fan and an avid cricket fan, and I could n't think of a better person to be chosen to serve as the white-ball team's new coach.
Harrison also acknowledged that he is" touch-and-go" for the first Check against Pakistan, which will start on October 7 as he recovers from a broken left hamstring injury sustained while playing for North Compressors in the men's Hundred next month.
Harrison is undergoing his treatment with the England team during their collection with Sri Lanka, while also acting as a friend for stand-in captain Ollie Pope, who would deputise in Pakistan may Stokes never make that first Exam. Pope has struggled with balancing tasks with a three-run average of 7.50 from four pitches while overseeing an unquenchable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka heading into the third and final Evaluation at the Kia Oval on Friday.
During the subsequent Exam at Lord's, Stokes batted in the nets on the Hospital Floor to keep his footwork and gradually build up the load-bearing capacity of his hamstring. Yet, given the high risk of aggravating the wound, returning to complete exercise is a constant process. Though happy with the development so much, Stokes and the ECB medical team are not taking anything for granted.
" The recurrence rate of these injuries is 50 %, which is quite high", Stokes explained. " I'd rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of possible doing something worse and then putting myself out of the sport for more. I'm simply making sure that I'm doing everything right and all I possibly can to try and give myself a chance to being fit for that second Exam.
" I got told right away that, within a couple of days, you'll feeling good as gold. That does n't mean that it's healed. So you have to remain cautious.
" I've been around the health team every day because I wanted to be here," he said. Because it has done its job, even if it gives me a better chance of returning three or four days than I had anticipated.
" Rehabilitation with glutes is very monotonous, I've found out. It's my first attempt, and all I can do is scurry about. I've only started doing some double-leg thing so I can insert my left foot today.
The physician, our doctor and our S&C ( strength and conditioning ) coach are trying their hardest to grip me up in. I'm continually saying,' Oh, can we do some running next year? May I perform golfing tomorrow?' It's all a bit of wind-up."
Visit Ben Stokes ' Instagram and Red Bull performer pages to learn more.
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