​Brendon McCullum’s final act of petty defiance was to order a beer the night before England’s Test head coach role was terminated. In a last-handed flourish of authority, he lifted the ECB’s ban on drinking, telling a reporter that “we’ll have a quiet beer and just let this one land,” a sentiment that sounded confident after England’s restorative 4-0 series win over India had vaulted them to the pinnacle of the T20 world rankings. He added a pragmatic caveat: “Just as long as no one lands on the front page.” Hours later, however, his name dominated the headlines. The ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, credited McCullum with injecting “new life” into the England Test team over the previous four years, but stated that “the time is right to make a change as we target victory in The Ashes next summer.” McCullum, who will continue as white-ball coach, said he was “gutted … but I respect the decision.”
The recent spree of hedonistic, high-octane cricket—a spree that seemed like a carnival in Somerset or a beachside break—rekindled memories of Bazball’s early days and everything that made it appealing. Wickets, sixes, audacious run rates, carefree cricket, and entertainment for entertainment’s sake. The image of England winning while wearing sunglasses and sliders, always in holiday mode, sipping beers by the pool or even taking them into the pool, felt iconic. For a while, England had been a watching nightmare—hard to enjoy, hard to write about—until McCullum sprinkled his magic dust over the Test arena. He gave stalwarts like Stuart Broad and James Anderson a renewed purpose, and he reshaped Joe Root’s approach to batting. The results were sometimes astonishing: wildly high chase numbers, improbable run rates, fourth-innings miracles that felt almost reckless in their audacity. Test cricket drew in new fans, reawakened old ones, and attracted those tired of England’s recurring collapses.
Yet the Bazball project gradually grew unable to examine itself, to acknowledge its flaws, or to prepare seriously for the Ashes. It lacked the humility necessary when plans went awry, and crucially, it failed to deliver landmark series wins against England’s fiercest rivals, with defeats piling up. Somewhere along the line, a bottle smashed in the shallow end of the pool, and Bazball stopped being fun.
If a single match could be said to epitomize McCullum’s tenure, it was the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington in February 2023. Harry Brook’s 186 in the first innings had England in control, and England declared. New Zealand were bowled out for 483, leaving England needing 258 to win the series. England collapsed, recovered, and ultimately lost by a single run in one of the most extraordinary Tests ever played. It was precisely the sort of match McCullum had promised—cricket that could stay up until 3 a.m. and still feel alive. Ben Stokes said he felt “blessed” to be part of it. Yet England lost the game and drew the series from a position of overwhelming strength, as if they had sacrificed a result in the name of entertainment, signaling a shift toward SEO-friendly narratives over traditional wins.