“Brendon McCullum should go with Ben Stokes”. The former England pacer blasted the current Test setup | Cricket News:
Former England fast bowler and Ashes winner Steve Harmison has strongly criticized the current Test setup in England, saying that the head coach Brendon McCullum had to resign following the announcement of Ben Stokes’ international retirement during the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.Harmison, who played 63 Tests and took 226 wickets for England, said he had never been convinced by the aggressive “Bazball” approach introduced by McCullum. While the strategy initially brought success, Harmison believes that England’s recent performances, including a heavy defeat in the Ashes and inconsistent Test results, show that the approach is no longer working.Harmison argued that Stokes and McCullum was a package deal intended to shape England’s Test cricket, and with Stokes away, McCullum should follow suit.“McCullum should go with him. And that’s it. If we’re going to continue that conversation, McCullum should go with him. I have a lot of respect for Brendon McCullum as a person, but this Bazball thing, that’s not Test cricket. That’s amateur,” Harmison told Talksport Cricket.He also questioned how senior batsman Joe Root viewed England’s recent struggles.“I want to know what Joe Root thinks about this, walking out to bat. I really want to know what Joe Root thinks about the whole last two-week period. But I think that Ben Stokes is going now, the influence of Brendon McCullum in this team now, I’m not convinced that it’s good for English cricketers, especially with the Test Match series less than 1 month away,” he added in a A1 series of months.
Ben Stokes explains retirement decision
Stokes shocked the cricket world by announcing his international retirement on the fourth day of the third Test. In explaining his decision, he admitted that mental and physical fatigue played a major role.“It might sound selfish, but this decision is really the best thing for me right now,” Stokes told Sky Sports.“I hope it’s the best thing for the team going forward, but I also hope it will allow me to continue to love this sport that has given me so much.“The Test of the Lord, for me, is something that has brought back negative feelings about where I am in my career. I have been working hard since I came home [from Australia] to set things straight, or at least that’s what I thought I was doing. I put a lot of time and effort into doing that, and I burned myself out,” he added.
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