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England coach Brendon McCullum hits the ball to England fielders during a practice session ahead of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
England mainstay Joe Root has come out in defence of captain Harry Brook and coach Brendan McCullum after both copped flak for different reasons during the Ashes series. Root scored 75 in a one-day international against Sri Lanka, which helped England achieve a 5-wicket win in Colombo.
Root batted for both Brook and McCullum after the captain-coach duo one their first ODI victory abroad while in charge of England’s white-ball team. Root said that Brook had apologised for his actions and he was fully behind him.
“He’s apologised, he’s taken his punishment and he’s desperate to take this team forward. I think he’s going to be a brilliant England captain and he’s going to do wonderful things in an England shirt, both as a player and as a leader. So I’m fully behind him and want to see him, I suppose, move past it and learn from it and grow as a person and as a captain off the back of it,” said Root according to the Guardian after the match.
McCullum’s role as England’s coach has come under question after yet another Ashes failure, one where England were only able to win a solitary Test match and withered in the clutch moments of the game where Australia stood tall. In Test matches decided within sessions, it made all the difference. Root said that while he hadn’t taken the time to analyse the Ashes series, he felt McCullum had considerably improved England as a team.
“I think Baz [McCullum] is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with. If you look at my own personal game, the time that he’s been a coach, it’s improved tenfold. I think most of the players, if you look individually, all of their games have improved under his tenure as coach. Same with [Jeetan Patel] and [Marcus Trescothick] as batting coach and assistant coach. They’ve done a lot of really good things for English cricket and will do in the future as well. Obviously, we’re disappointed with the way things went out in Australia, but I still think that there’s a lot of more really exciting things to come from this group,” said Root.
English (US) ·