Alastair Cook has killed two narratives with one stone. The former England captain has criticised the two biggest coaches in the world, Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum, during a discussion about England’s performances in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26.
Cook on England’s County neglect
The visitors won the Melbourne Test but have already lost the urn and series. After the first day’s play ended, Cook took aim at the current England management headed by McCullum. In his opinion, the Three Lions have neglected performers of County Cricket and picked players based on attributes. Selecting and persisting with Zak Crawley or Shoaib Bashir are the perfect examples of this.
“There is a massive disconnect at this minute from this England side to county cricket. I do think that needs to be addressed. Because if you are banging out runs in county cricket or wickets in county cricket, there must be a path into the Test team. I think that needs to be looked at,” Cook said on TNT Sports.
Gambhir & Baz criticised
The Test great was talking from an English perspective, but his words rang true from an Indian perspective as well. Cook highlighted how England haven’t fared well against the best teams. They drew the 2023 Ashes at home, lost to India away from home in 2024, and drew against India at home in 2025.
The India vs England Test series was labelled as a great performance by Gambhir after he faced criticism for losing 0-2 to South Africa. Cook pointed out how England drawing a series against the current Indian team wasn’t a good result, considering how the Proteas absolutely mauled them at home.
“I like Rob Key; I like McCullum. I like how they think, but I do think they have taken their eye off the ball for the biggest series. They’ve taken their eye off the ball for the biggest series. We talk about India; they lost in India. They drew against them at home, and then, India got thumped by South Africa, so that the Indian side wasn’t a great side either. Reality has hit this Test team,” he added.
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Shubman Gill to play 2 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches to prepare for IND vs NZ ODIs
Top Stories
