ENGLAND'S NEXT MEN'S WHITE BALL COACH?

After a few weeks of speculation, Matthew Mott has stepped down as England’s white ball coach.

Despite highlights which included England’s 2022 T20 World Cup win, the team’s recent form was seen as underwhelming.

Where once a semi-final in a World Cup would have been seen as par for an England coach, standards have definitely risen in recent times. Considering the rise of the white ball Golden Generation with a squad that currently includes Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid should be pushing all the way in every tournament.

After the 2022 T20 World Cup, England mounted two disappointing efforts to defend their white ball trophies.

The 2023 World Cup in India showed how far Mott’s men were off the pace as they won just 3 group games and were knocked out at that stage.

The recent T20 World Cup was slightly better but still saw England nearly eliminated at the group stage and found themselves fortunate to limp to a semi-final where they were thrashed by a rampant India in Guyana.

Mott had his issues beyond his control and many would argue that few coaches would succeed where he failed. 

Mott lost England’s inspirational captain Eoin Morgan after only his first series in charge after a sustained period of lack of form. Long-term opener Jason Roy’s form dropped off too and whilst Alex Hales briefly reappeared post-Morgan he re-retired after England won the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup. Ben Stokes was also in and out of the side following his promotion to England Test captain.

It has certainly been a team in flux following the success of the class of 2019 under Trevor Bayliss and perhaps Chris Silverwood was fortunate that he never got the chance to take England into a tournament so the gauntlet fell to Mott.

During this period, Jos Buttler has undoubtedly looked a frustrated figure and significantly Rob Key has decided to stick with his captaincy but now a choice selection to pick this side up by the scruff and figure out how to get that dominating feeling back.

So where might Rob Key look with his next appointment?

Brendon McCullum

Can you get too much of a good thing?

Brendon McCullum’s leadership of the Test team since Chris Silverwood’s departure has been extraordinary. From a side which looked to be suffering from PTSD following a grinding complete defeat in Australia and a follow up loss in the West Indies - McCullum injected England’s men’s side with a huge dose of optimism.

A carefree, natural style of play which meant picking your team and backing them all the way flourished. Exciting cricket has been promoted and the England team and fans have been rewarded.

The question is that would the security and optimism that McCullum brings translate as well to an already aggressive white ball set up and would he want the job on top of an incredibly demanding red-ball schedule?

Marcus Trescothick

Australia’s white ball tour of the UK starts in September and Trescothick has already been appointed interim head coach for this series.

Somewhat untested as a head coach, Trescothick has however been a long-time batting coach since his Somerset retirement.

England’s former opener is a popular member of the dressing room and the Australia series could be a perfect opportunity for him to cut his teeth and give him experience in what is, essentially, another meaningless bilateral white ball series against a strong Australia side.

In fact, Australia’s own Andrew McDonald had a fairly similar rise to the top as first interim and then later full time coach.

A series win against the old enemy could turn attention his way.

Eoin Morgan

From inspirational captain to inspirational coach - it’d make a great story.

Morgan clearly has a very strong relationship with the current dressing room, despite his lack of coaching experience and the remnants of his glorious 2019 side are still present. He already has a very strong bond with current England captain Jos Buttler too.

Friendliness with the team is not an outright positive though and certainly has it’s drawbacks. Big decisions will need to be made ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup and with the likes of Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Jonny Bairstow approaching the end of their careers with potentially difficult chats on the horizon.

Arguably though, Morgan is a harder man than his cheerful exterior suggests and has shown his ruthless edge in the past when dealing with Alex Hales or even dropping David Willey at the last moment for Jofra Archer in the 2019 World Cup.

Recently though, Morgan has distanced himself from the job but perhaps one for the future.

Andrew Flintoff

Within a year of returning to the game that he so loves (and loves him back) Flintoff has gone from an advisor with the England team to coach of the Northern Superchargers.

It’s been a quick rise but it seems a shrewd decision to quickly promote a man who has been so good and has given so much to the English game. His charisma took him from England superstar to media personality in swift time.

So far, a return of 2 wins and 1 losses is inconclusive but even without being in the inner circle, you can assume that Flintoff is encouraging a laid back atmosphere in the same style of how he played his own cricket.

Perhaps there hasn’t been enough evidence to collect yet to show Flintoff’s coaching prowess but one thing is guaranteed that he will be a charismatic leader.

Jonathan Trott

Most of the names on this list have been untested but Jonathan Trott has now a fair amount of experience under his belt.

Trott’s early coaching experiences post retirement came in the role that Marcus Trescothick has also filled in recent years as batting coach of England, he also was briefly a consultant for Scotland during a T20 World campaign as well as coaching for England pathway sides more recently.

In 2022, Trott took up the role as head coach of Afghanistan, not the most glitzy job in world cricket but one with plenty of potential. 

Under his guidance, Trott was able to turn that potential into actual result and a semi-final finish in the recent T20 World Cup was a huge success for the Afghans.

Unfortunately for England, the stars may not align on this appointment. Trott’s success for Afghanistan has meant he’s been appointed Head Coach of the Pretoria Capitals which will rule him out of the England job most likely.

Mike Hussey

Only the second non-Englishman on this list (any pedants mentioning Trott and Morgan can go away) Mike Hussey has spent some time under Matthew Mott is the England set up.

A fair few of the names mentioned as replacements for Mott have been in his cabinet over the last few years and like Trescothick and Trott, Hussey has also served as a batting coach.

Hussey has broadened his horizons though beyond the English backroom staff and has also taken on the role as the Head Coach of the Welsh Fire to give himself experience at the top level.

Whilst the Welsh Fire haven’t made had too many significant days out, Mike Hussey’s tag as Mr Cricket should still come in good stead and as a man who comes across as a nice enough guy could inspire something in the players.