Brendon McCullum is set to be sacked as England’s Test cricket coach.
The maverick mentor has led England in red-ball cricket since 2022, and across all formats since 2025.
But the infamous Bazball era appears to be over, according to 7Sport’s Tom Morris.
“Formal announcement as early as today. Still a chance he will continue leading the white ball teams,” Morris reported on Sunday night.
Under McCullum’s watch, England attempted to breath new life into the red-ball game with cavalier aggression, and experienced great success in the early part of his tenure.
The former New Zealand captain led the English to home series wins against New Zealand (3-0) and South Africa (2-1), and an extraordinary away series win over Pakistan (3-0), in a burst of early form that drew the attention of the cricket world and earned his side the ‘Bazball’ monkier.
But McCullum ultimately led England to mediocre placings in each of his three World Test Championship cycles: fourth in 2021-23 (albeit having only taken over half-way through that cycle), fifth in 2023-25, and seventh on the current 2025-27 table.
He also oversaw a team which constantly courted off-field controversy in recent years.
Limited-overs captain Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a bouncer at a Wellington nightclub in 2025; the touring Ashes squad was widely criticised for a boozy trip to Noosa mid-way through the most recent Australia-England series last summer; and Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson each missed the second Test against New Zealand last month for breaking team curfew.
Stokes then retired mid-way through the third and final Test against the Kiwis after reports that he had fallen out with McCullum and England managing director, Rob Key.
In his final innings at Test level, and chasing a mammoth target of 373, Stokes promoted himself to open the batting and effectively threw his wicket away with reckless abandon, setting England up for a thumping loss.
McCullum is contracted with the ECB until the end of the World Cup in South Africa next year on a lucrative deal believed to be worth around £2 million per year ($3.86m AUD).
