Former England opener Michael Atherton gave India’s and Rahul Dravid’s examples as Brendon McCullum ready to coach the England team across formats. On Tuesday, McCullum was appointed the white-ball coach as well with the veteran holding the reins of the Test side since mid-2022 as well. He will succeed Matthew Mott, who stepped down following the 2024 T20 World Cup as we.

Atherton said to Sky Sports, “I think it’ll make the people around him very important, people like Marcus Trescothick, who’s going to be the interim coach for this Australia series at the end of the summer. He will presumably step in from time to time. That’s how India have done it. They’ve had one man doing both, Rahul Dravid, until recently, but others have stepped in from time to time to give the head coach a break.”

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However, Brendon McCullum has done a great job since taking over from Chris Silverwood as the coach of the red-ball side as well. Under him, England have lost only one series so far. Atherton also feels England need some joy and freedom back in their side as he hopes that McCullum will do the needful.

“I don’t doubt McCullum’s credentials at all, but the challenge will be just the extra responsibility, the extra time that it takes to plan and prepare and get a one-day team ready to play. You’re probably going to have to be doing that during a Test tour at times. When Stokes and McCullum took over, there was a spring in their step, a freshness about their play and a kind of joy about the game. Key will be hoping that transmits to Buttler, who sometimes looks a bit burdened with the white ball captaincy, and he’ll be hoping that McCullum’s skills can rub off on him and make him look a little less burdened around the role,” Michael Atherton concluded.