Harry Brook backs head coach ‘Baz’ McCullum to continue after England’s World Cup exit

MUMBAI: Hailing Brendon McCullum as “the best coach I’ve ever had,” England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook urged the England and Wales Cricket Board to continue Brendon McCullum as the team’s all-format head coach after his team lost a high-scoring semifinal of the 2026 T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium by seven runs to hosts India, bringing a winter of unsatisfactory results to a close.

McCullum’s position has been the subject of speculation since England’s weak performance in the Ashes Down Under, in which they were whipped 4-1 by dominant Australia.

Soon after England’s thrilling defeat to India at the last four stage of the T20 World Cup, McCullum said that he would “love to carry on,” with Brook asserting that that the New Zealander remained “125%” the right man for the job.

Showering rich praise on McCullum, Brook said that he had struck a perfect equation with the England head coach since he took over as England’s white-ball skipper in April last year.

“Our partnership has been good throughout the competition and since I’ve taken over. We get on very well and the communication has been outstanding. Long may it continue. I’ve said plenty of times he’s the best coach I’ve ever had. The way he speaks to everybody, he’s got an aura in the dressing room. Everybody looks up to him, the things he did in the game as a player were unbelievable and he’s just carried that into his coaching.

The things he’s done over the four years since he took over have changed English cricket for the best. He’s the best head coach I’ve ever had,” Brook said at the post-match press conference on Thursday night, when quizzed about his thoughts on whether McCullum should stay in the England job.

Brook pointed to the culture of resilience built around the side-clearly an influence of head coach McCullum and the captain too- when praising England on how they had repeatedly fought their way back into games during the T20 World Cup. “They’ve fought their arses off and we’ve been in the game until the very last ball almost every game. We’ve got some extremely good players in there, some extremely tough characters as well, to play some of the innings that we have done in this competition,” he said.

Brook complimented his side for competing hard against India, a team he felt had deep batting resources and a clear advantage as hosts. “I’m extremely proud of the way the boys stuck to their guns. They’ve done everything me and Baz have asked of them. We should be extremely proud of the way we almost chased down 250 on their home turf, with them knowing all the best plans throughout the competition. They just have batsmen coming out of everywhere. They’re extremely good players, clean ball strikers. If you miss you’re going for six or four. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute as well as we could have done tonight and that’s cost us.”

Despite winning six out of eight games, England’s World Cup campaign was far from perfect, with the side never quite producing the complete performance. It was purely resilience that had carried them all the way to the semifinals, as they pipped Nepal by four runs and beat Pakistan by two wickets in the Super 8 stage only due to a brilliant 51-ball century by Brook. Even in the last four clash against India at the Wankhede Stadium, England fought gallantly to finish at 246 for seven in reply to India’s 253 for seven on a ‘bowlers’ graveyard’ at the Wankhede Stadium.

Fighting the disappointment of a World Cup exit, Brook also felt a sense of pride in how his side refused to throw in the towel consistently during the T20 World Cup. “Yeah, disappointed, but extremely proud. Couldn’t ask for much more as a captain to be honest. I think we’ve had an amazing campaign and I said the other day that we’re never out of games and that’s proven again tonight that we were in the game all the way until the last over,” Brook said.

Brook was quick to admit that he himself let a golden opportunity slip by spilling a chance offered by Sanju Samson at mid-on-the ‘keeper-bat was on 15, and went on to plundered 74 more runs before he was out for a match-defining 42-ball 89. “Catchers win matches don’t they?” Brook said, revealing that the blunder kept playing up in his mind as Samson kept pulverizing England’s bowlers. “Unfortunately it didn’t stay in my hands. It’s just one of those things. He played a very good innings as well and arguably won them the game. Yeah, obviously it’s in the back of your mind. I kept on looking at the scoreboard and he was piling the runs on. I was like I’m going to have to get 89 tonight. It’s not ideal, but it’s happened now.”