LAHORE – When Brendon McCullum took on the job as England’s white-ball coach alongside his duties heading up the Test team, it was seen as a good thing, with greater convergence between formats allowing for greater consistency and planning.
Now, after a poor start to life in his new role, with Saturday’s five-wicket Champions Trophy defeat by Australia in Lahore taking McCullum’s record to eight losses in nine white-ball games, the New Zealander’s job has become ever more challenging.
The real danger is negativity from a shocking run of limited-overs results seeping into the Test set-up during an Ashes year.
England might still rescue their Champions Trophy campaign if they win their final two group matches against Afghanistan on Wednesday and South Africa on Saturday to reach the semi-finals.
Yet that appears a long shot after a morale-sapping loss to the Australians that saw England unable to defend a target of 352.
Worryingly, the chief issue at the Gaddafi Stadium was the performance of the three fast bowlers England are hoping can form the backbone of their attack for the huge Test series against India at home this summer and in Australia next winter.
Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse all had nights to forget, even if the first two did start positively by taking the respective wickets of Travis Head and Steve Smith.
In all, though, this trio of quicks who England are banking on come the Ashes had a nightmare, conceding a combined 226 runs from 26.3 overs, including 39 boundaries in total.
Their combined economy rate of 8.52 was the worst for a pace attack in England’s ODI history, beating the 8.42 returned by Reece Topley, David Willey and Gus Atkinson during a chastening World Cup defeat by South Africa in Mumbai last October.
Yet back then, that trio only shipped 30 boundaries as the South Africans plundered 399 for 7.
Atkinson, who has enjoyed a stellar start to life in Test cricket with 52 wickets at 22.15 in his first 11 matches, is in England’s squad for this Champions Trophy. But his record this year – 0 for 38 in one T20 at an economy rate of 19 and 2 for 139 from two ODIs at an average of 69.50 – makes him virtually unselectable at the moment.
That is a problem because Wood, Archer and Carse, three right-armers being asked to “bowl rockets” by McCullum, are looking one-dimensional as a unit.
Combined, the three have bowled 104.2 overs since the start of the tour of India last month and it is starting to show.
Carse, in particular, is suffering, his night on Saturday rather painful as he took 1 for 69 from seven overs at an economy rate of 9.85.
The form of Archer and Wood has tailed off as well. The former has taken two wickets from as many ODIs this year at an average of 60.50, while the latter has 3 for 177 from three matches at 59.
With England needing to win their final two games to stay in the Champions Trophy, it is likely Wood and Archer may be asked to go to the well again over the next week. Carse, too, if McCullum’s stubbornness and belief his best attack will come good remains.
Looking ahead, there is a risk of burnout ahead of the more important Test assignments to come, series that will define McCullum’s legacy as coach, unlike this tournament.
That fear increases when you factor in both Archer and Carse are playing in this year’s Indian Premier League that runs until the end of May, giving them little time to rest before the five-Test series against India starts on 20 June. It also risks poor white-ball form bleeding into their Test performances.
There is enough time throughout the summer for things to turn around and for confidence to be restored, even if the Champions Trophy goes as badly for England as most fear it will.
Yet the risk of injury and fatigue, both mental and physical, increases with every single boundary these three bowlers concede while playing white-ball cricket.
McCullum coaching across all three formats was meant to be a masterstroke by director of cricket Rob Key, with the expectation that the Kiwi would manage his resources wisely.
Instead, it looks like he wants to go hard at everything, including the workload he puts into three of his best bowlers. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised given his “balls-to-the-wall” attitude to life.
But it could have drastic consequences down the line for England.
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