McCullum & Key call county coaches amid unrest

England's Brendon McCullum held a call with county cricket head coaches and directors on Wednesday amid unrest between the domestic and international game.

The relationship between England and the counties has come under scrutiny following this winter's Ashes defeat and England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Rob Key has spoken about wanting to improve relations.

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty said last month the route from county cricket to the Test team has become "misted over" since McCullum and Key took charge in 2022, while Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace has said McCullum has "no interest" in the county game.

Both head coach McCullum and Key were on Wednesday's call, along with ECB performance director Ed Barney, Troy Cooley, who has returned to the ECB as men's pace bowling lead, David Court, whose remit covers player identification at the ECB, and county coaches and directors of cricket.

The ECB contingent outlined what they are looking for in future England and England Lions players.

Speaking at Derbyshire's pre-season media day, coach Mickey Arthur said counties "got some clarity".

Another county coach suggested the call was positive but said any improvements must be backed up by action.

"I don't want to get involved in the actual contents of the call, to be honest, but it was a good call," Arthur said.

"We got some clarity on their aims and their ambitions, what their short-term goal is now and how they're looking to achieve it."

England, to some success, have often looked beyond county form when selecting players. They picked batter Jacob Bethell before he had scored a professional century and spinner Shoaib Bashir in 2024 after he had played just six first-class matches.

But after the 4-1 defeat by Australia, England are keen for players to play in the seven rounds of the County Championship which precede the first Test of the summer against New Zealand from 4 June.

Captain Ben Stokes told the ECB this week it was a "great opportunity for a lot of people around the country".

"I hope they're giving themselves the best chance of coming up for selection when we get together to do that," Stokes said.

Batter Ollie Pope and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will play for Surrey against Warwickshire when the Championship begins on Friday.

Durham bowler Matthew Potts and Kent batter Zak Crawley are set to meet at Chester-le-Street. Bashir is in line to make his debut for Derbyshire against Worcestershire.

Others, such as pace bowlers Sam Cook and Ollie Robinson of Essex and Sussex respectively, spinners like Liam Dawson of Hampshire, Leicestershire's Rehan Ahmed and Somerset's Jack Leach, plus batters including Glamorgan's Asa Tribe, Nottinghamshire's Haseeb Hameed, Surrey's Dom Sibley, Sussex's James Coles and Somerset wicketkeeper James Rew will hope to push their case.

The ECB is in the process of appointing a national selector to replace Luke Wright, who stood down earlier this year.

Chief executive Richard Gould also backed McCullum and Key this week despite a series of recent England players criticising the regime.