Brendon McCullum's future as England coach relies on T20 WC, Ben Stokes likely to retain his position: Report

Brendon McCullum's future as England head coach remains uncertain heading into the 2026 T20 World Cup. This comes after the team's humiliating 4-1 defeat to Australia in The Ashes. Their Test form has depleted drastically and it isn't much better when it comes to ODIs as well. According to a report by The Telegraph, McCullum's future pretty much relies on the T20 World Cup.

McCullum to not survive ECB's review?

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould and chairman Richard Thompson led an internal review after the side's defeat in The Ashes. While both Rob Key and Ben Stokes are likely to survive the review and retain their positions as Director of England men's cricket and England captain respectively, there is no guarantee as to if McCullum will remain as the team's head coach in the coming months.

The report stated that the ECB have privately acknowledged that there is a need for stricter standards within the team. McCullum's relaxed coaching methods aren't going to cut it and he has himself said in the past that significant changes to the team's culture may not suit him. It remains to be seen if he will continue as the head coach after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

ECB imposes midnight curfew

The ECB has had to impose a midnight curfew on the England players for their white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. This comes after it was recently revealed that Harry Brook had an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand. Not just this, there were also reports of the England players regularly visiting casinos and drinking excessively during their tour of Australia.

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Meanwhile, England will be taking on Sri Lanka in what will be a three-match ODI and T20I series each. The first ODI will be played on January 22 at the R. Premadasa stadium in Colombo. The T20I series will act as the final bit of preparation for both the teams before the World Cup, so it will be quite an important assignment.

England's squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Harry Brook (Captain), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood.

England's squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Harry Brook (Captain), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Luke Wood.