It was the shambolic Saturday afternoon in Perth that spelled the end. Nine wickets for 99 runs – a batting collapse described as the most consequential in English cricketing history – and the Ashes were gone. Seven months later, the aftershocks have claimed Brendon McCullum.
McCullum was sacked as England Test coach on Sunday, a joint decision by the New Zealander, director of cricket Rob Key and captain Ben Stokes, who earlier this month retired from international cricket. McCullum, who said he was "gutted", will remain in charge of the white-ball set-up.
“Brendon McCullum sacked as England Test coach after Ashes collapse; says 'gutted'.”
"I'm gutted," McCullum told the Evening Standard. The dismissal ends a stint that began with breathtaking highs – wins at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Rawalpindi – but careered off the rails during last winter's Ashes in Australia.
McCullum inherited an experienced squad flattened by one win in 17 and stifled by Covid restrictions. He liberated them. "I don't coach technically," he said on his first day in May 2022. "It's more around man-management and trying to provide the right environment." For a year, it worked. England were a feeling, a movement, a phenomenon.
But the ride crashed in Perth. Up 2-0 in the series, England needed one calm session to win the first Test. They did not do calm. Then came a series of missteps: a single warm-up match at Lilac Hill, a group trip to Noosa when 2-0 down – Stokes photographed on the beach with a sign reading "Bazballers anonymous", an apparently drunk Ben Duckett. McCullum denied a drinking culture: "Half our guys don't have a drink."
Selection decisions also haunted him. James Anderson retired "not entirely willingly" ahead of the Ashes. Young players with little county form – Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir, Rehan Ahmed, Jacob Bethell – were picked over Sam Cook, who averages 20 in first-class cricket. Since McCullum took charge across all formats in January 2025, England have won five Tests, lost eight and drawn one. In ODIs they have won six and lost 12.
"Time for us all to buckle up," Key said when McCullum was appointed. Now, on two Sundays two weeks apart, Stokes has walked and McCullum has been pushed. England are back where they were four years ago: without a captain and without a Test coach.
Whoever takes over faces a huge rebuilding job.