Buttler: McCullum 'all in' on World Cup after Test exit — SkimNews
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- Jos Buttler said Brendon McCullum's July removal as England Test coach has allowed the New Zealander to go "all in" on the 2027 Cricket World Cup in southern Africa, freeing him from juggling both red- and white-ball duties.
- Stephen Fleming was eventually named as McCullum's Test successor, while McCullum retained control of the limited-overs setup that ended the summer with 11 wins and two defeats.
- The white-ball summer included ODI series wins over India and Sri Lanka, raising England's stock in a format where they have declined since lifting the 2019 title.
- Buttler is sidelined with a hamstring injury and has already been ruled out of England's upcoming tri-series tour of Pakistan, with no confirmed return date pending a specialist review.
- Buttler said the injury could see him miss as many as eight ODIs and a "significant chunk" of pre-World Cup preparations, including November's tour of Australia.
- Buttler captained England's ill-fated 2023 World Cup title defence and is the squad's most experienced one-day player.
Why it matters: McCullum's narrowed remit gives England a single-minded white-ball identity-building project ahead of a tournament still over a year out, but Buttler's injury strips roughly a third of the remaining ODI preparation window of the team's most experienced one-day player and captain — a tension between coaching clarity and on-field leadership at exactly the wrong moment.
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