{"id":1067,"date":"2026-07-17T16:58:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:58:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:58:38","slug":"curtains-for-an-inveterate-gambler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1067","title":{"rendered":"Curtains for an Inveterate Gambler"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Curtains<\/div>

<\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t\tJames Nixon<\/a> |

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

The saying \u201cA leopard can\u2019t change its spots\u201d <\/em>is ringing in my ears.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Brendon McCullum (BMC) signalled his willingness to adapt and evolve his methods to improve England\u2019s Test performance in the wake of the last Ashes series Down Under. Yet all he specifically promised the ECB chiefs was to make some \u201ctweaks\u201d to England\u2019s approach to playing matches, with the batting in high pressure situations foremost in mind. However, to me at least, these \u201ctweaks\u201d have barely been discernible in the subsequent three match series against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

By the time the 2025\/26 Ashes series was well underway, Captain Stokes (BS) was the one to get his head down at the crease and fight it out with determination, taking some others with him (most notably, Will Jacks):<\/p>\n

T2: BS -19 (run out), striking at 38.8<\/em>, whole team at 72.8<\/p>\n

50 at 32.9,<\/em> whole team at 53.2<\/p>\n

T3: BS \u2013 83 at 41.9<\/em>, whole team at 54.5<\/p>\n

T4: BS \u2013 16 at 42.1<\/em>, whole team at 61.3<\/p>\n

Plus four single figure scores for BS.<\/p>\n

I feel that BMC may well have been getting highly agitated at the Captain\u2019s rather painstaking progress in these four innings in which he got a start, following England\u2019s debacle in Perth.<\/p>\n

Following this 4-1 Ashes series loss, BMC insisted that straying from the recognised \u201cBazball\u201d approach (though not his label) was a mistake. Despite heavy criticism, he maintained that abandoning the high-risk style of batting was the real error, asserting \u201cwe must keep backing our adopted approach\u201d to be successful.\u00a0Stokes, most notably, differed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c`<\/p>\n

The focus of this piece<\/em> is on what sort of team BMC\u2019s how-to-play-the-game philosophy is actually suited to; and when, and why, he should have had a basic change of plan. Marcus Trescothick remains the anointed \u201cbatting coach\u201d, though BMC has confirmed that he himself has been in charge of the tactical side of matters \u2013 albeit with also giving the players a licence to express themselves, a matter returned to shortly.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c\u201c`<\/p>\n

Hoult\u2019s Contention and The Fall-Out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nick Hoult of The Telegraph<\/em> newspaper has written that Ben Stokes pushed for BMC\u2019s removal at the end of the 2025\/26 Ashes series in January. I don\u2019t know his source, but it seems highly plausible.<\/p>\n

Assuming that the team Captain really<\/em> did<\/em> want BMC moved-on after the Australia tour, he has been denied his wish\u00a0by the ECB<\/a>\u00a0because those who rubber-stamped the lack of proper preparation for the Ashes series marked their own homework in the post-tour review and decided nobody was to blame for the outcome. Snippets of the resulting inquiry report being released in late-March, with the overall message: It\u2019s hard to win in Australia and so there\u2019s no need to change any of the key personnel.<\/p>\n

The ECB chiefs \u2013 especially the arch pragmatist Richard Gould and the Chairman, Richard Thompson might think they have done the sacking of BMC rather well \u2013 avoiding a large compensation payment by keeping him on in white ball coaching mode. And releasing the news on Sunday 12th<\/sup> July while the England women\u2019s team was playing their Test match against India at Lord\u2019s and coming a day after England had completed a sweeping T20 series triumph over India. This timing presumably decided on in the hope of minimising the shock to the public and a possible adverse public reaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet even in its own self-interest the ECB\u2019s timing was awry, being some six months delayed so as not to contradict themselves over the stability thrust of the Ashes inquiry report. This left only one month to appoint, and brief, a new England captain (surely not \u201cthe liable to a tactical brain fade\u201d Joe Root again) as well as needing a suitable replacement for the disenchanted team captain \u2013 surely not the prone to be cavalier at the crease Harry Brook, nor the young inexperienced Jacob Bethell. The latter\u2019s place in the team cannot yet be secure given his poor run of first innings scores for England (eight of his nine first digs yielding no higher than 16 runs).<\/p>\n

An eminent of member of the ACS organisation has been privately wishing that Jimmy Anderson \u2013 now captaining Lancashire \u2013 will get the job. This would be a most sensible solution in my view. The cupboard seems otherwise bare, unless a wild card solution is adopted. How about appointing Mike Brearley as a non-playing captain while leaving the lower level on-field decisions to someone such as Ben Duckett \u2013 akin to golf\u2019s Ryder Cup set-up.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, in the immediate aftermath of BMC\u2019s sacking, Richard Gould has been harping on about the need to prepare for the next Ashes series, at home next summer \u2013 conveniently omitting to mention the WTC Championship with England currently languishing in the standings. Does Mr. Gould really think that the cricket enthusiasts who support the England team are so gullible as to swallow his often peculiar statements wholesale?<\/p>\n

BMC\u2019s <\/strong>Mea Culpa<\/em><\/strong> and His Achievements in Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

As to BMC\u2019s mea culpa<\/em> public statements on his sacking (\u201cIt\u2019s a results-driven business, I fully accept that\u201d and suchlike), I interpret these \u2013 perhaps a little cynically \u2013 as an attempt to shore up his white ball coaching position with his bosses at the ECB and not irritate them with any defensive stuff.<\/p>\n

Most commentators laud MBC\u2019s achievements during the initial year or so of his reign, but also fail to see the fundamental and fatal flaw of his general approach to playing Test matches, reflecting that of an inveterate gambler \u2013 in life as a whole (recall, for instance, his horse racing attachments). BMC did refresh the players\u2019 psyches and freed them up to express themselves; coupled with a focus on what can go right, rather than being anxious about what may go wrong. In short, liberation!<\/p>\n

That mindset changing was inspired work. However, the approach adopted to batting in endeavouring to win matches was often over-aggressive and cavalier at the wrong time \u2013 as discussed, in depth, in Chapters A, B and C of my book (63 pages of A4 size) released in May 2025, titled England\u2019s Test Batting in the New Regime: A Critique for \u201cContinuous Improvement.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Recall BMC\u2019s words early-on:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s attack the danger; let\u2019s run towards the danger\u201d- <\/em>fighting fire with fire when in a high pressure situation and risk losing a match for a chance of winning it. A gambol worth taking for an underdog struggling <\/em>team.<\/p>\n

This delivered as part of a talk to the team during the initial three match series, at home, against New Zealand in 2022 \u2013 when England successfully chased down three challenging second innings targets for a 3-0 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his book of 2017 \u2013 On Form \u2013<\/em> Mike Brearley makes a similar point:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A concern about the prospect of failing tends, in turn, to create the outcome that we most fear. We create the very thing that we strive most to avoid happening.<\/em> {Chapter 16}<\/em><\/p>\n

A companion saying: The only thing to fear is fear itself\u2026<\/em>such as the fear <\/em>of receiving a delivery with one\u2019s name on it or getting an edge to the slips.<\/p>\n

And this from American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt: \u2026<\/em>\u00a0let me assert my firm belief that t<\/em>he only thing we have to fear is fear itself.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Excerpt from his inaugural address, 4 March 1933, in the context of the Great Depression that had begun four years earlier.<\/p>\n

A related point: BMC encouraged each batsman to weigh up the match situation for himself and decide how he could best respond \u2013 given his abilities \u2013 to maximise the prospect of the team winning a match. Such freedom can be dangerous for novices (such as an early Ollie Pope or an early Ben Duckett) and those with a rash streak (eg Jonny Bairstow) andalso\u00a0 those with a maverick disposition (most notably, Harry Brook).<\/p>\n

In essence, BMC\u2019s approach suited a struggling team with very little more to lose, and potentially lots to gain, in terms of status, competitive standing and the public\u2019s support, which was true of the England side when he took over. It followed a slump \u2013 a dismal string of results, England having won only 1 of their last 14 matches.<\/p>\n

The Missed Switch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having achieved a dramatic turn-around of match results with a lot of pluck and some necessary slices of luck, a basic change in approach was required to further lift what had become a successful team in place of a struggling and dispirited one. In short, a switch to a more temperate attitude, better matching the tactics applied to the conditions and game situation. \u201cHorses for Courses\u201d to use a phrase BMC would be highly familiar with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, the generally adventurous way of batting was a gamble that, sooner or later, would inevitably rebound. Just as such gambles do in everyday life \u2013 casino players being a striking example. Two of the Government\u2019s counter-gambling addiction slogans here in Australia, regularly announced on TV run: What\u2019s gambling really costing you?<\/em> and What are you really gambling with? <\/em>These <\/em>are apt in this story. BMC has been gambling with the fate of England\u2019s Test team\u2026for far too long. The downturn was always going to come: just a matter of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a major problem with gambling for those who can\u2019t afford it. Kerry Packer loved it, though his wallet was fat enough to withstand big losses at the tables. (It is said that\u00a0he lost around US $25 million to casinos during the last decade of his life.) But most people can\u2019t afford to gamble frequently and substantially with money, and nor could BMC in a team coaching role. As indicated, it was a philosophical outlook he pursued that suited a lowly team, just as he did when taking over the captaincy of the New Zealand side from 2013 through to early-2016. But when England\u2019s fortunes were resurrected, BMC unwisely persisted with it.<\/p>\n

Which raises the question: when was a good time for England to have switched from their high-risk attitude to batting under BMC and adopt a more conservative or cautious approach when it was called for?<\/p>\n

This would, I think, have been following the initial four Test series in the New Regime. Having, at that stage, won three of these series (against NZ 3-0 at home, against South Africa 2-1 at home, and against Pakistan 3-0, away) and drawn the last of these series, against NZ, away, in February 2023. All this within the space of nine months; and coming on the heels of series losses under the previous coach (Chris Silverwood) to West Indies, Australia, NZ and India, with one solitary match won back in early-February 2021 at Chennai. So a string of unsuccessful Test series had been decisively turned around, the England team standing tall again.<\/p>\n

Passing over the one-off match (won) against Ireland, next up was the Ashes series at home in June\/July 2023, resulting in a levelled 2-2 series (one drawn match), coming as it did prior to England\u2019s visit to India \u2013 going down 1-4 in that series in January 2023 to March 2024. Accordingly, I pinpoint the time for a switch in strategy as around 10 to 12 months into the New Regime.<\/p>\n

It Could Have Saved BMC!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I managed to get my \u201cContinuous Improvement\u201d<\/em> book into BMC\u2019s hands (through his co-operate London-based business agent), though as far as I\u2019m aware (through the same contact) BMC never took an opportunity to dip into it \u2013 or even got an underling to summarise it for him \u2013 when taking heed of it could have saved him! Chapter F of the book contains 15 pages of (non-technical) recommendations for improvement to England\u2019s way of batting, along with suggestions as to how best to implement them.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s Been Boozing and Staying Out Late: Should Anyone Care?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All the chatter that\u2019s been going around about the England players \u201cmisbehaving\u201d \u2013 staying out beyond curfew times, boozing a fair amount in public, etc \u2013 has had very little, or nothing at all, to do with their performance (in my view). The likes of those who often had late-night adventures during Test matches \u2013 Garry Sobers and Ian Botham to the fore \u2013 must have laughed like a drain (in private at least) at the ECB edits about off-field behaviour and disciplinary measures taken!\u00a0<\/p>\n

This nannying of England players was, I contend, misplaced. Instead, an enlightened laissez-faire watch should have been applied; coupled with basing team selections, and rejections, on whether a player is considered to be performing up to his\u00a0existing ability <\/em>or is, otherwise, performing substantially below it. (Potential ability being a different matter.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

To quote from my related article on this site (14 June):<\/p>\n

The selectors already have to make subjective judgements on a whole variety of matters when picking a Test team. The judgement required in this context is similar in nature to a number of others. Such as: how will he cope when facing express deliveries, rarely encountered so far; will he be able to cope with 100,000 spectators at the MCG, most of whom will be strongly partisan; will his recent series of coaching sessions, to iron out a particular fault, stand up in match play?<\/em><\/p>\n

This\u00a0suggested action in responding to a player\u2019s under-performing relative to his capability would be taken whatever the reason(s) for it are \u2013\u00a0which needn\u2019t, and wouldn\u2019t, be gone into in the public domain.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>And here\u2019s a key pay-off:\u00a0<\/em>no more inquests would arise into who stayed out too late; who drank too much booze where and when; was he really intoxicated when mixing with strangers on his way back to the hotel; were those players being aggressive in a public place; and so forth. <\/em><\/strong>So distracting for all and sundry.<\/em><\/p>\n

And, yes, I would do away \u2013 entirely \u2013 with imposed curfews and restraints\/constraints on drinking alcohol.<\/em><\/p>\n

All told, this approach to life should, I believe, serve to more strongly incentivise those On the Fringe \u2013 and also those some way Beyond the Fringe \u2013 to strive for a place in the England team. In so doing, it should also help dampen the exodus\u00a0to T20 Leagues around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

If there are fisticuffs and suchlike in pubs and nightclubs,\u00a0the law of the land can take care of that, so long as there is CCTV in place<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Nixon | 1:37pm BST 17 July 2026 The saying \u201cA leopard can\u2019t change its spots\u201d is ringing in my ears.\u00a0 Brendon McCullum (BMC) signalled his willingness to adapt and evolve his methods to improve England\u2019s Test performance in the wake of the last Ashes series Down Under. Yet all he specifically promised the ECB…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cricketweb.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/curtains.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2177,2179,2178],"class_list":["post-1067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-curtains","tag-gambler","tag-inveterate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}