Buttler Says Losing Test Job Has Freed McCullum to Chase World Cup Glory

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler believes Brendon McCullum’s controversial removal from the Test coaching role earlier this year may end up being a blessing in disguise for England’s Cricket World Cup ambitions, with the New Zealander now able to pour all of his energy into next winter’s tournament in southern Africa.

McCullum was stripped of his red-ball duties in July, with Stephen Fleming brought in to take charge of the Test side. The 44-year-old has continued to oversee England’s white-ball teams, working alongside specialist mentor Kevin Pietersen, and has since guided the side to an impressive 11 wins from 13 matches, including series victories over both India and Sri Lanka in the one-day format.

Speaking on his For the Love of Cricket podcast, Buttler said the narrower remit had allowed McCullum to commit himself entirely to solving England’s one-day problems ahead of the World Cup, rather than splitting his attention across formats.

“He’s only got one focus now and that is the white ball,” Buttler said. “It’s not that he couldn’t do everything, because he could, but your time is more spread and you’ve got more to think about with the Test team as well. Now he can focus solely on white-ball cricket – T20, yes, but mainly ODI cricket with that World Cup on the horizon.”

Buttler, who led England through their disastrous defence of the 50-over title in 2023, added that McCullum appeared to have channelled his competitive instincts squarely towards ending England’s recent struggles in the format that made them world champions in 2019.

“It seems like Baz is naturally all in on, ‘how do I win this World Cup with this team?’” he said. “I think he can sort of see that World Cup is not that far away. It’s a real target, now his remit has changed from four months ago being in charge of everything to, ‘right, I can really nail down on this’. He’s just got more time and more focus on that. ODI cricket for England has not been consistently great for a couple of years, so there’s some nice growth to go on that, and this summer’s been a really good start.”

England’s white-ball form since the coaching reshuffle has certainly given cause for optimism. A 3-0 clean sweep in the T20 series against Sri Lanka was followed by a 2-1 one-day series win that included a thumping 223-run victory at The Oval, though Sri Lanka did register a 16-run win at Headingley to prevent a whitewash.

The timing of any turnaround matters for England, who have looked short of their best in ODI cricket since claiming the trophy on home soil six years ago. With the World Cup now less than 18 months away, Buttler’s comments suggest the dressing room views the coaching split not as a demotion for McCullum but as a sharpening of purpose.

There was less positive news on the injury front, however. Buttler confirmed he will miss England’s forthcoming tri-series tour of Pakistan after suffering a hamstring injury during the second ODI against Sri Lanka, and is also a doubt for the November tour of Australia. That raises the prospect of England’s most experienced one-day batter missing as many as eight ODIs during a crucial stretch of World Cup preparation.

“I’ve had a scan and I’m waiting to see the specialist. Then we’ll know what the next steps are,” Buttler said of his recovery. “The unknown is often the tough part. Any cricketer just wants a physio or a doctor to tell you, ‘on this date you’ll be back playing cricket’. Unfortunately, they can’t do that just yet.”

With McCullum now singularly focused on the white-ball project and England building momentum in the 50-over format, the coming months will offer a clearer picture of whether the reshuffled setup can deliver when it matters most – though for now, the team’s talisman with the bat will be watching much of that build-up from the sidelines.