“Brendon McCullum is not fit as a red-ball coach” - Ex-Indian opener slams England head coach for one-dimensional cricket in Tests

Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh has stated that Brendon McCullum is not fit as a red-ball coach after his Bazball approach failed to fetch results in England’s favour in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 campaign.

Notably, these comments came after Australia retained the Ashes 3-0 in Adelaide. Speaking on his Instagram handle, Ramesh asserted that England will continue to struggle in the red-ball format if they play one-dimensional cricket. 

"Brendon McCullum was a good cricketer, but is not fit as a red-ball coach. The reason is he tried to fit the T20 style of batting in Test matches to make it to Bazball. Now, England is playing as if that’s the only style they know of. Former cricketers should never insert their style of play and must think according to what the format needs," Ramesh said on his Instagram handle.

"Leaving aside the off-field things, the reason why England are struggling is because they are playing one-dimensional cricket. Suppose if you have a vehicle and if you decide to ride it at 100 km all the way to the destination, the vehicle will not last long. Vehicles have something called a break and must be used from time to time. Roads will have left or right turns and various signals and the main weapon to use is break. If you ride it without breaks and keep hitting trees on the way, that’s what Bazball has done to England,” he added.

Furthermore, the former cricketer took the example of former India head coach Rahul Dravid, who urged the Indian players to play fearless cricket in the shortest format of the game and was successful, winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. Additionally, Ramesh asserted that England, with their current approach, will never manage to get the Test mace in their hands.

"The shining example of that is Rahul Dravid, The Wall. He was called the pillar of Test-match batting. Under his coaching, India won the T20 World Cup. The primary reason is he knows his style of play but he urged the players to play fearlessly and with freedom. It’s very important. What Brendon McCullum is doing is trying to squeeze the T20 style batting in Tests. The shots played can make the ball land into the crowd but the WTC mace will never fall into your hand,” he concluded.

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