Sack Brendon McCullum now! Ex-England star issues explosive ultimatum to ECB

England to sack Brendon McCullum?: England defeated Pakistan last night at the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium, Pallakele. The three lions became the first team to secure their place in the semi-final of the 2026 T20 World Cup. A Harry Brook century led the side to their next round of the major competition. However, Brendon McCullum, who is the head coach of the England National Cricket Team, has been under scrutiny.

Though Brendon McCullum plays high risk high reward game across formats, which has been known as the ‘Bazball.’ This style of play has been criticised by former English cricketers, especially after the humiliating one-sided 4-1 loss in the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia. Former England pacer Steve Harmison, while speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, believes that Brendon McCullum must be sacked.

I think he goes- Steve Harmison on Brendon McCullum

Michael Vaughan asked, “Where does that leave Brendon McCullum, when he's made all those mistakes? Harmison replied, "I think, I'm reluctant, but I think he goes. I think you've got to take this Ashes section out of it a little bit, because that was so bad, because everything went wrong. As in, our planning was so badly wrong, they've admitted that.”

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“I’m reluctant but I think he goes.”

The team revisit the Ashes. 👀 pic.twitter.com/O7E8wOszNH

— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) February 25, 2026

Harmison talked about England’s lack of depth in the squad in the spinners' form, as Shoaib Bashir is the side’s main spinner, and except for him, there is no one else. Will Jacks is a part-time bowler. There was not even a backup opener on the side, and batters who had not been at their best had an average below 40.

Steve Harmison further added, “They've not played enough games, you know, the Lilac Hill over Optus Stadium. Even coming down to the selection, Shoaib Bashir's your frontline spinner, Will Jacks is your backup spinner. I mean, there is an alarm bell. You've got three batters in the top six, who average 34 or less, with no spare opening batter.”

“And even if you want to delve a little bit deeper than that. I mean, this rant could go a little bit longer. But no spare opening batter. And then if you look at, right, what we got, if Crawley, Duckett or Pope gets injured, we've got an inexperienced Bethell.”

I really want to see him succeed- Steve Harmison on Rob Key

Steve Harmison also talked about the England Lions squad and the ECB Managing Director, Rob Key. He said:

“We've got a Lions trip, which has got Tom Haines, Ben McKinney, Emilio Guerre. One of them are going to have to be thrown into a Test match. So these decisions, I always defend Rob Key, because I have to, he's my mate, and I really want to see him succeed and do well. And I think he's done a lot of good stuff with the pathway.”

Brendon McCullum has no backup plans

Steve Harmison also pointed out that Brendon McCullum, since taking over the head coach responsibility, has failed to nurture the young talent and find out the problems inside the team, and he has failed to do it. That has been one of the reasons for the English side to fail.

Steve Harmison concluded, saying, “You talked about in an earlier show about the under-19s and the pathway. That was all rebuilt after COVID. That had to be rebuilt. And that's why I'll be making a decision on McCullum solely on this one Ashes series.”

“Because as a coach, you drive the message. As a coach, you prepare the players. As a coach, you prepare the team. You make sure there's no stone unturned to ensure everything that could potentially go right or wrong, you're ready for it as a coach.”

England will play New Zealand in their final Super 8 game on Friday, and the team's focus remains on winning the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Also Read: Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma defended blindly by India coach amid horrible form in T20 World Cup