The Wisdom & Experience of Robert Craddock (13.07.26)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Some days it is just so perfect that we tap into the wisdom and experience of Robert Craddock. And this is one of those. Crash for Alex Scott and staff to sell your livestock or sell your home. Hello to you, Crash.
G'day, Gerard. Yes, the Gold Coast Suns. I remember being on earlier in the year on your show, and they were favourites to win the competition.
Yes.
But the Bermuda Triangle has struck again. The sports from the Gold Coast, be it basketball, baseball, soccer, rugby league, AFL, they just get swallowed up. It's amazing.
There's a bit of that sentiment around today, which we'll tap into as we go. But our primary consideration here is the sacking of Brendan McCullen, the end of the Baz Ball era in English Test cricket. Here's a bit of Nasser Hussein overnight.
No one is overly thrilled when a coach loses his job, either stood down or sacked, however you want to call it. And you do have to remember the great times that Brendan McCullum gave us. They were an absolute joy to watch for two or three years. They won 10 of their first 11 games. And it was not just the wins. It was the manner and style and the brand. I mean, he is a coach that the brand of cricket was named after. Baz Ball was named after him. and from where England were before him and Stokes, I think it would be wrong not to mention the way they played right at the start. They were an absolute joy to watch. They won so many games and the way they won them home and abroad. But in the end, in recent times with the Ashes and losing, what, seven of their last nine Test matches and the manner of those defeats,
I think it's about the right time. I'm not sure it was the right thing for Rob Key to do to give one person both the coaching of the white ball and test side. And I think it's the right thing now for Bender McCollum to concentrate on white ball cricket. Yesterday, England won at Southampton. They're the number one T20 ranked side in the world now. I think his coaching style at the moment is suited for white ball cricket.
Nasser Hussain with his judgment. Crash, I would inscribe on the gravestone of Baz Ball, Baz Ball won nothing. How do you see this era of English cricket?
Well, I wouldn't be quite as harsh, but I would say this. When he took the job, they'd won one out of 17 tests and then he won nine out of 10. But what baseball couldn't do, Gerard, it couldn't unseat the big teams. It was too lightweight and fluffy.
Why was Brendon McCullum sacked as England Test coach and what is 'Baz Ball'?
It was like that schoolteacher who comes in and you said – Gee, I enjoy his classes. Like, he's full of quips and wisecracks. But when you get to exam time, you fail because you're not hard enough. You haven't learnt anything. And that was McCullum's problem. And together with Rob Key, the boss, who's similarly big on ideas but similarly short on detail and crunch and punch, they just weren't good for each other. Now... We've heard that Ben Stokes wanted to see McCollum gone after the Ashes. They kept with him. And as a couple of the journalists have said today, that's cost him six months. And they're both gone. And it cost him Stokes as well. Like Stokes left as a picture of abject frustration after falling out with McCollum.
And now McCollum's gone as well. So this is the scenario for English cricket. They have no captain. They have no coach. They have no all-rounder. They have a flimsy top order, including a couple of very squeaky wheels. They have no pace spearhead. They have no spinner. And an Ashes is a year away. So they are in, I'll say, as bad a shape as they were is when Baz Ball started.
Is it the right decision?
I thought it was the right decision to sack him, but that should have been taken six months ago. And I'll tell you what's not the right decision. Look, he was always actually more suited to being a white ball coach than a red ball coach because white ball cricket, even though he played 100 tests, white ball cricket was where he really shone. And his sort of flash, Harry, let's just get on with life attitude could really shine. And you have the memory of a goldfish. You forget yesterday's failures and you keep going on.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:33
2
Why was Brendon McCullum sacked as England Test coach and what is 'Baz Ball'?
2:33–8:58
3
How do Robert Craddock and guests assess Baz Ball’s successes and failures?
8:58–12:51
4
What structural problems now face English Test cricket after McCullum’s exit?
12:51–33:33
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Whateley
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