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Back Baz: Why Poms should still stick with McCullum beyond Ashes
SEN • December 10th, 2025 3:53 pm
Former Australia spinner Steve O’Keefe would stick with Brendon McCullum as coach if he were England, even if things continue to go wrong for the visitors this Ashes series.
After back-to-back defeats to open the series in Perth and Brisbane, pressure has quickly been heaped on McCullum’s position due to the side’s aggressive tactics and seeming unwillingness to change and adapt.
Even though McCullum’s tactics and approach have caught the ire of many in recent weeks, O’Keefe thinks the Kiwi is worth persisting with, even if the side continues to struggle in the coming weeks, particularly if you look at where England were before he took over in 2022.
“Look, I'd say sitting back and taking the emotion out of it (he should remain coach),” O’Keefe said on SEN Sportsday NSW.
“Look at the coaching rate under him. At the end of the Joe Root and Chris Silverwood era, they won 1 out of 17, and they're shooting at 58 per cent with McCullum.
“No England team has come over and done well in Australia since 2010/11.
“Does he survive? I think there are a lot of people saying that he wouldn't. But personally, I'd stick with him.”
Sticking with McCullum does come with one caveat, according to O’Keefe, that he must learn and adapt to the lessons that are clearly being taught to this side down under.
Even if it’s too late to change things this series, O’Keefe is backing the England coach to go back to the drawing board and correct some issues for future series and away tours.
“He brings a bold new approach that this England team has got. Do they have to change their ways? Yes. Does he start having to listen a little bit more, adapt, and correct? Yes,” O’Keeffe said.
“100 years of Test cricket will tell you that you just can't come up with the same plan and expect to have different results when you're getting thumped.
“You are going to have to change things. So, admitting that and trying to move forward will help.
“This attitude of saying training we’re too hard and we need more time off when you're not playing tour games… the numbers are there, they’ve had 11 training days and six days of Test cricket. That has to stop.”
McCullum is contracted until the end of the 2027 season in the UK, which is after Australia's next tour to England for an Ashes series.
