A critical thing in the great game of cricket is timing. And perhaps it’s the most essential thing of them all. The timing of great cricketers that lead to a make or break in scorecards by virtue of conjuring individual knocks and the timing of big matters such as when to declare an inning and when not to, for instance, the decision to keep playing; those are the kind of things that have dominant consequences in the game.
And along these lines, a matter of huge pertinence came of light just last weekend- the decision of the removal of Brendon McCullum as the test coach for England men’s side. But what was just as important as the huge decision itself, was the timing of the decision itself!
But facts first. Brendon McCullum’s ouster as the coach of the England men’s side in the longest format was perhaps not hugely shocking as under his guidance and tutelage, even though England developed a brave brand of cricket, they weren’t able to win any noteworthy series of late! While last year, they didn’t manage to defeat a visiting India side in the 5-match series despite India missing out on some big names, just recently England, the hosts, lost the 3-match Test series to New Zealand.
Moreover, the entire Ben Stokes fiasco also happened with McCullum as the coach in his position. Now, why the timing of Baz McCullum’s ouster as the test coach made news and is perhaps still being largely debated is the fact that the ECB decided to take the decision and announce it publicly at a time where several key and global sporting events are happening.
This was, if you think about it, just before The Hundred begins. This is when an actual, proper women’s Test match- and a historic one at that- is currently underway at Lord’s between England women and India women. And more so at a time where much of the sporting fans’ attention is tuned to that of the FIFA World Cup.
But what’s just as interesting as the outgoing McCullum, the former test coach of England is just who is said to being considered for the role. Well, it’s none other than Ravichandran Ashwin.
There’s this growing feeling that yet another noted and respected cricketing name is being considered for the said role. While in some close quarters, the fans demand Andy Flower as the new coach, someone who has served English cricket widely even before McCullum arrived, to think that someone like Ashwin could be made the coach of England could also be an interesting development given the off spinning all rounder’s brilliant talent and game awareness.
And then there were quite a few who were suggesting, though obviously with no confirmation yet that even Ravi Shastri could be considered for the position. But it remains to be seen which name is brought in to be associated with the bastion that’s English men’s Test cricket.
