Five contenders to replace Brendon McCullum as England Test coach

England are on the hunt for a new Test head coach after Brendon McCullum was stood down from the role.

McCullum, who will remain in charge of England’s white-ball teams, has paid the price for the wretched Ashes in Australia in the winter and a chaotic 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand to start the Test summer.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will have to move quickly to appoint a replacement, with Pakistan due to visit for three Tests from 19 August.

With a home Ashes less than a year away, the new hire will have task of forging a quick and fruitful relationship with the individual that succeeds Ben Stokes as Test captain – with Harry Brook seemingly the leading option.

But who will the new skipper be working under? Here are five possible contenders to replace McCullum.

Having already led England to No 1 in the world, could the Zimbabwean be persuaded back for a second stint in charge of the team? Flower was the hard taskmaster that arguably took England to their highest heights in Test cricket, overseeing series wins in Australia and India and combining well with Andrew Strauss. His tenure ended with relations fraying within the side, but Flower seems to have softened since, and has become one of the most highly-regarded T20 coaches on the franchise circuit, winning back-to-back IPL titles with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Flintoff has sort of fallen into elite coaching, picking up part-time roles with England while recovering from a horror car crash in 2022. He has proved to be well-liked by those working under him and above him, though, during his time with the England Lions, bringing through a number of now Test regulars. Close to Rob Key, who remains as ECB managing director of men’s cricket, a promotion might be seen as hasty and perhaps not a total regime change – and Flintoff has just taken a role with the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash, too.

There is a lot to like about way the former England batter has forged his coaching career, taking on a demanding role with Afghanistan and thriving despite not being able to visit the nation during his time in charge. It was in white-ball cricket that a team on the rise excelled under Trott, reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup, but it was against the red ball that Trott was at his best as a player, and the role could well suit him. The 45-year-old has previously expressed a desire to coach England one day.

The leading candidate from the County Championship, Batty’s Surrey may have relinquished their grip on the domestic game but the ex-England spinner is a shrewd operator. Would he leave the Oval? Perhaps not, with the Surrey set-up under Alec Stewart seeming to suit him well. Other contenders in the county game may include Richard Dawson, impressing with Glamorgan after a spell as an assistant with the national team, but the time for Peter Moores or Mickey Arthur has probably gone.

Speculative, surely? Langer was not necessarily friendly with the entirety of the Australian dressing room during his time in charge, yet success was achieved under the sometimes-combative Western Australian. A smart cricketer and coach, Langer would be an intriguing introduction to an environment perhaps in need of a firmer hand at the tiller. His former teammate Jason Gillespie has long been linked with the role and has strong knowledge of the English game from spells at Sussex and Yorkshire.