Can McCullum's Midas touch turn white-ball sides to gold?

England coach worked miracles with Test team...now he must do it again

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Two-and-a-half years after becoming England’s Test head coach, Brendon McCullum is about to start the job many thought he was destined for in the first place. McCullum was, it seemed, being lined up for the white-ball position when first interviewed by the England & Wales Cricket Board in 2022, but swerved what he viewed as a “cushy” job in favour of the rather more seismic challenge of reviving a desperate Test team.

From this month’s tour of India, which begins on Wednesday, McCullum unites the roles, steering the red-ball side towards the winter’s Ashes while adding responsibility for a limited overs outfit that was not long ago dual world champion but, in 50-over cricket in particular, has lost its way.

His reign starts with a five-match T20 series, but with the Champions Trophy only a month away, it is the three one-day internationals that follow that matter most. McCullum’s task on that front is perhaps even stiffer than the one he inherited with the Test team, or at least comes with a narrower pathway to success.