England coach Brendon McCullum and director Rob Key meet with county coaches amid unrest in English game
England’s Brendon McCullum held a meeting with county cricket head coaches and administrators on Wednesday amid unrest between domestic and international matches.
Relations between England and the counties have come under scrutiny following this winter’s Ashes defeat and England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Rob Key has spoken of wanting to improve relations.
Surrey head coach Gareth Batty said last month that the route from county cricket to the Test team had become “blurred” since McCullum and Key took over in 2022, while Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said McCullum had “no involvement” in the county game.
Head coaches McCullum and Key were at Wednesday’s meeting, along with ECB performance director Ed Barney, Troy Cooley, who returns to the ECB as men’s bowling leader, David Court, whose remit includes identifying players at the ECB, and county coaches and directors of cricket.
The ECB group outlined what they look for in future England and England Lions players.
Speaking at Derbyshire’s pre-season media day, coach Mickey Arthur said the counties had “gained some clarity”.
Another county coach said the call was positive, but any improvement needed to be backed by action.
“To be honest, I don’t want to get into the actual content of the conversation, but it was a good meeting,” Arthur said.
“We got clarity on their goals and ambitions, what their current short-term goals are and how they want to achieve it.”
