NEW DELHI: England Test captain Ben Stokes has expressed his approval of Brendon McCullum's new role as the head coach for all formats of the England cricket team. This decision comes after a period of two years during which England had separate coaches for their red-ball and white-ball teams.
The change in coaching structure was prompted by the departure of Matthew Mott, who had been serving as the limited-overs coach, in July.
McCullum, a former New Zealand cricketer, assumed the position of England's Test coach in May 2022 and has since been credited with a significant improvement in the team's performance.
Under McCullum's guidance, the England Test team has adopted an "ultra-aggressive style of play" that has been dubbed "
Bazball
". Stokes believes that having McCullum at the helm across all formats will benefit the team and help maintain consistency in their approach to the game.
"I think it's an unbelievable move for English cricket to go back to having one coach in charge of all the teams. You look at what Baz has achieved with the Test side, it's been amazing," Stokes told ESPNCricinfo, as quoted by Reuters.
McCullum, 42, has agreed to prolong his tenure until the conclusion of 2027. He will assume responsibility for the short-format teams when England embarks on their tour of India at the beginning of the following year.
"I'm really excited for the white-ball team to have the opportunity to be able to work with Baz, listen to him speak, his opinions," Stokes said.
"All the new faces who are coming into that white-ball team now, I couldn't think of a better person for them to come in and work under at international level for the first time.
"I'm an England cricket fan and I couldn't think of a better person to be appointed to be the new coach of the white-ball team as well."
Under McCullum's leadership, England have won 19 out of 28 Tests and claimed victory in six of nine series, with their only series defeat coming in India earlier this year.
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