Fire Brendon McCullum now! Ex-England star issues explosive ultimatum to the ECB

England dismiss Brendon McCullum?: England defeated Pakistan last night at the Pallakele International Cricket Stadium, Pallakele. The three Lions became the first team to secure their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 T20 World Cup. A Harry Brook century led the side to their next round of the major competition. However, Brendon McCullum, the head coach of the England national cricket team, is under scrutiny.

Although Brendon McCullum plays a high-risk, high-reward game in various formats known as the ‘Bazball’. This style of play has been criticized by former England cricketers, especially after the humiliating one-sided 4-1 defeat in the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia. Former England pacer Steve Harmison, while speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, believes Brendon McCullum should be sacked.

I think he goes: Steve Harmison on Brendon McCullum

Michael Vaughan asked: ‘Where does that leave Brendon McCullum, if he’s made all those mistakes? Harmison replied: ‘I think I’m being reluctant, but I think he’s going. I think you have to take this Ashes part out a little bit because that was so bad, because everything went wrong. As in, our planning was so seriously wrong, they admitted it.

Here’s the video

“I’m hesitant, but I think he’s going.”

The team revisits the Ashes. 👀 pic.twitter.com/O7E8wOszNH

— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) February 25, 2026

Harmison spoke about England’s lack of depth in the squad in the form of spinners because Shoaib Bashir is the main spinner of the squad and no one else is apart from him. Will Jacks is a part-time bowler. There wasn’t even a backup opener on the side, and batters who hadn’t been at their best averaged less than 40.

Steve Harmison further added: “They haven’t played enough games, you know, the Lilac Hill above Optus Stadium. Even looking at the squad, Shoaib Bashir is your frontline spinner, Will Jacks is your back-up spinner. I mean, alarm bells are ringing. You’ve got three batters in the top six, averaging 34 or less, with no reserve opening batsman.”

“And even if you want to dig a little deeper. I mean, this rant could go on a little longer. But no backup leadoff hitter. And then you look at what we have, if Crawley, Duckett or Pope get injured, we have an inexperienced Bethell.”

I really want to see him succeed: Steve Harmison in Rob Key

Steve Harmison also spoke about the England Lions squad and ECB chief executive Rob Key. He said:

“We have a Lions trip with Tom Haines, Ben McKinney and Emilio Guerre. One of them will have to be thrown in a test match. So in these decisions I always defend Rob Key, because I have to, he’s my mate, and I really want to see him succeed and do well. And I think he’s done a lot of good things along the way.”

Brendon McCullum has no backup plans

Steve Harmison also pointed out that since taking over the responsibility as head coach, Brendon McCullum has failed to nurture the young talent and identify the problems within the team and has failed to do so. That was one of the reasons why the English side failed.

Steve Harmison concluded by saying: “You talked about the under-19s and the trajectory in an earlier show. That was all rebuilt post-COVID. That had to be rebuilt. And so I will make a decision on McCullum based solely on this one Ashes series.”

“Because as a coach you convey the message. As a coach you prepare the players. As a coach you prepare the team. You ensure that everything that can go right or wrong, as a coach you are ready for it.”

England play New Zealand in their final Super 8 match on Friday and the team’s focus remains on winning the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Also read: Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma blindly defended by India coach amid terrible form in T20 World Cup