Brendon McCullum has questioned the leadership ability of England captain Joe Root.
While Root has had little trouble making runs throughout 2021, setting a new English record for most Test runs in a calendar year with 1,544, it hasn’t necessarily equated to results for his team.
England’s heavy loss to Australia in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane was their seventh defeat of the year and came after they had wrestled back the momentum following a disastrous first innings.
Former New Zealand skipper McCullum feels the English side “went missing” at the Gabba, adding to an already “dire” year in the Test cricket arena.
“England had opportunities, they had their chances, but they just weren’t really strong enough,” he said on SENZ Breakfast.
“When the pressure came on and Australia started to flex, England just went missing.
“That’s their seventh Test loss in the calendar year which is just remarkable. Their worst ever has been eight and it’s been some time since that.
“The worst ever in the history of Test cricket is nine by Bangladesh. It’s been a pretty dire Test match year for England.”
While McCullum acknowledges Root’s remarkable form with the bat, he does believe the overall leadership of the 30-year-old is lacking.
“There’s only really one player who is scoring any runs for them and that’s the skipper Joe Root,” he added.
“I think Joe Root is a wonderful guy, an outstanding cricketer and they talk about him as a very good leader.
“I haven’t really seen it.
“To me, leadership is not just about being able to make the right calls at the right time tactically as a skipper. He’s not, to me, up there as one of the best in the world at it.
“He allows games to drift at times. When they had Australia on the ropes the other day, he allowed the game to drift. If you give Australia any chance of being able to fight their way back they will.”
McCullum is worried about the lack of improvement among Root’s fellow batsmen and suggests that could be a byproduct of the skipper’s inability to bring others along for the ride.
He describes it as a “real cause for concern”.
“What is of more concern is that leadership is not just about being the best player in the team. Leadership is about inspiring those around you to achieve higher success than they would otherwise achieve,” he said.
“The fact that no one else in that batting line-up has been able to progress and achieve under Joe Root’s captaincy, to me is a real cause for concern. Now there is such a stark contrast between the skipper, who sits so far above everyone else, and everyone else in the team.
“What that can do it can actually create a negative effect on the rest of the guys. Remember, Joe Root said at the start that this series will define his captaincy career. I just wonder if someone else was in charge of that team, and Joe Root was going to bank the runs that he was going to bank, they might be able to inspire some of those other guys around them.
“Sometimes not always the best players make the best leaders and at the moment there’s some sort of disconnect there amongst their batting group.
“They’ve got a lot of soul searching to do. They’ve got to find a way to put some pressure back on Australia.
“Because if you give Australian any sort of submissive stance, they’ll run over the top of you.”
Root recoiled from a first innings duck to make a fighting 89 in the second dig in Brisbane before his side went under by nine wickets.
He will lead England into battle in the second Test against Australia in Adelaide which kicks off on Thursday afternoon.