“We are waiting for the final version of what will happen from January,” Trescothick said about when the final decision will be made on what the coaching setup will look like. “I think when Brendan and Rob [Key] “If we get together, they’ll probably finalize it in New Zealand.”
Trescothick has been in charge of England’s series against Australia in September and now their tour of the Caribbean, the latter of which he described as “perfect” and leaving the team in the best possible place for McCullum to take charge.
“If you look at the final result,” Trescothick said, “we won one of the two series and we won several games in both series that we played and we’ve seen more players. So sit back.” and you look at it on paper and say: perfect.”
Due to the busy schedule, England had brought a number of young players to the West Indies, four of whom made their debuts throughout the tour. The balance, Trescothick argued, was to combine triumph with learning, an objective that was achieved.
“Of course, you always want to win. But I think if we had one goal on this trip, more than anything else, it would be to look at the players we’ve seen and see if they’re going to be good enough.” next week, next month, next year or for three years.
McCullum will be able to meet Bethell sooner rather than later as the 21-year-old will be the reserve batsman on England’s tour of New Zealand. That’s despite a meager first-class record in which he has zero centuries in 20 appearances.
“All the attributes are there,” argued Trescothick in favor of Bethell’s chances of transferring his white-ball ability. “If you had markers to be able to go, sure, you need to do this, this and this, he would be knocking on the door for that.
“There’s no reason why he can’t break through and be successful, because he’s flourished in both formats that we’ve seen in the recent period. You could almost see him as the next youngster after Harry Brook, the really exciting one coming up.” “We are prepared for the next journey this group will take.”
McCullum’s appointment will also give captain Jos Buttler his first real opportunity to mold a team in his image. Since taking over in 2022, Buttler has largely built on the momentum of the Eoin Morgan era, which led to their T20 World Cup victory, before attempting to reunite the band again for one last ODI dance in 2023, only for everything to fail. apart.
Now, however, while Buttler views the final years of his career as potentially the most “rewarding,” he has the opportunity to start over with a new group of players.
After four months out, Buttler was back in form almost immediately, scoring 83 in his second innings and captaining with a smile on his face at all times. Their fields were inventive and often hyper-aggressive, with two slips and a short leg in position thanks to Mahmood and Jofra Archer taking early wickets in the powerplay.
“You can see everything falling into place for him,” Trescothick said of Buttler. “A little bit where, hopefully, there will be nicer moments with the growth of the team, but also with the return of other players and a little more stable structure with the coach as well.”
The question of ODI returns for Ben Stokes and Joe Root will be the ultimate litmus test. Both remain fantastic players, but they arguably represent a step backwards if, after following a youth policy, two men who have been absent since the 2023 World Cup are returned.
However, this is also easier said than done. The ODI team was desperately lacking experience, with the absence of a Root or Shai Hope style player in the England line-up being evident throughout the series.
Whatever happens next, the new era is ready to begin.
Cameron Ponsonby is a freelance cricket writer based in London. @cameronponsonby
