The candidates to replace Brendon McCullum as England Test head coach

The announcement felt like a long time coming, with speculation over McCullum's position first emerging during the winter's Ashes. England have lost seven out of their last nine Test matches, and their series defeat to New Zealand was their first loss in a three-Test series at home since 2012. After Stokes announced his shock-retirement during the Trent Bridge Test, there was some thought that it could pave the way for McCullum to stay on, and re-build a team around his sole authority. However, a clean slate of new coach and captain was ultimately preferred.

First on the ECB's agenda will be appointing a head coach, however, with a captaincy announcement to follow. Here are the candidates.

The front-runner

Andy Flower has emerged as the leading candidate to replace McCullum. The former Zimbabwe keeper previously coached England from 2009 to 2014, overseeing three Ashes victories and taking them to No.1 in the world. He left his position following England's defeat in the 2013/14 Ashes, moving into another role within the ECB pathway, and heading up the England Lions programme. In recent years he has taken on multiple coaching roles in franchise cricket, including overseeing RCB's back-to-back title wins in the IPL.

While ECB CEO Richard Gould confirmed on Sunday that Flower's previous tenure with England would not affect his candidacy to take up the job again, a sticking point could be his lucrative role with RCB. The IPL season clashes with the start of the English summer, which could create a need for Flower to give up his role with RCB if he is to take on the England job. However, Gould stressed the need to be "progressive" with coaches who also have roles in franchise leagues, highlighting players and other members of support staff who are permited to take on franchise work while also holding England roles.

The man on the inside

Andrew Flintoff is the candidate on the shortlist with the least experience, but one who has risen rapidly through the ECB coaching ranks over the last two years. Having coached the England Lions since 2024, Flintoff also coached Northern Superchargers men from 2023 before stepping down ahead of the upcoming season. Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, he said that he is "worth more" than what the franchise's new owners offered him. Flintoff worked closely with Harry Brook during his tenure – the favoured candidate to take over from Stokes as Test captain. While Flintoff has never coached a senior national side, it was Rob Key, with whom he is close friends and who was name-checked by Gould as the one to oversee the hiring process, who brought him into the ECB coaching fold after he recovered from a major car accident in 2022.

A complication for Flintoff's appointment could be his professional relationship with ECB chair, Richard Thompson. Thompson is also chair of the company who manage Flintoff, which could create a conflict of interest for the ECB in appointing him. Nevertheless, Gould said he "wouldn't take any option off the table" for appointing McCullum's successor at this stage.

The county grinders

Some names from the county circuit have been floated in connection with the job. The leading among these is likely Durham's Ryan Campbell. Campbell oversaw Durham's promotion from Division Two, and while they yo-yo'd back down again last year, they currently lead the Division Two standings. Having coached Netherlands before Durham, Campbell has international experience. He also implemented a style of play built in the McCullum-Stokes mould at Durham, having come in during the early part of the Bazball era.

Gareth Batty could also be a candidate. He coached Surrey to three back-to-back County Championship titles, and played for England 19 times. He was vocal at the start of the year in criticising the relationship between England's selection relationship with county cricket. There's also Darren Lehman, former Australia head coach now at Northants, and Richard Dawson, who was behind Glamorgan's Championship promotion – Dawson was assistant to Matthew Mott during England's T20 World Cup win and previously coached England Lions, but fell out of favour during McCullum's tenure.

Another previous England face up for another go would be Peter Moores, who coached Nottinghamshire to their Championship win last year. Moores has previously had two stints at England coach, however, and despite Gould's statement that Flower's previous England role wouldn't rule him out, a third go for Moores feels unlikely.

Big names and outside bets

Jonathan Trott, the former England batter, expressed interest in coaching England in the future earlier this year, after he finished his tenure as Afghanistan head coach following more than three years in the role. Under Trott's leadership, Afghanistan had their best-ever finish in a men's 50-over World Cup in 2023, and reached the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup. He has also held coaching roles in the SA20 and ILT20.

Several Australian names have also been floated, the likes of Simon Katich – who was in contention the last time the job came up – as well as Ricky Ponting. Justin Langer, who left the Australia head coach role in 2022, could also come under consideration, although he expressed a reluctance to coach England when he was linked to the role previously.

Former India head coaches Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri have also been floated in the media as potential candidates. The former feels more plausible, with Shastri having resumed his lucrative career in the media since leaving the India role. Another outside bet could be recently retired R Ashwin, although he has no previous professional coaching experience.

News also broke on Monday that Stephen Fleming has stepped down as Chennai Super Kings coach after 17 years in the role, following three seasons without a title. He won five IPL trophies with the franchise and also coached their sister teams in the SA20 and MLC. He also shares a business partnership with McCullum, which could be an attractive factor for the ECB considering both white and red-ball coaches will have to work in collaboration over player management.

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