New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum favorite for England head coach job- Reports

Brendon McCullum is currently head coach of KKR in IPL 2022.

Brendon McCullum is currently head coach of KKR in IPL 2022 | KKR TwitterBrendon McCullum, former New Zealand captain and currently the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing IPL 2022, is one of the contenders for the England coach job as well. Not only this, but he has emerged as the front-runner for the job, BBC and other British media reported.

Chris Silverwood left the role in February in the aftermath of their 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia, with Paul Collingwood taking over in the interim. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) then invited applications for separate Test and white-ball coaches.

ECB has already announced Ben Stokes as their new Test captain, who will begin his tenure against New Zealand in a three-match home series in June.

Amongst the contenders are former India coach Gary Kirsten, while Paul Collingwood is also one of candidate.

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The reports said 40-year-old McCullum, who is currently in charge of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), was keen on taking the job and that an announcement was expected this week.

It was widely believed the 40-year-old McCullum’s application would relate to the limited-overs vacancy, given a nascent coaching career spent exclusively in franchise T20 cricket and a close friendship with Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain.

But as reported by the Guardian, there is an expectation that McCullum may take charge of the Test set-up in a move that would combine his aggressive outlook with the captaincy of Ben Stokes.

McCullum himself has said previously he is open to England’s head coach having a second job in the world’s most lucrative T20 tournament if it secures the right candidate.

(Reuters/Guardian inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 11 May, 2022

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