On Report Of MI Offering Jofra Archer Year-long Contract, England Coach Brendon McCullum Breaks Silence

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum believes international boards would be "completely naive" to assume players would turn down lucrative offers from T20 leagues to play for their country. McCullum, who is currently the head coach of England's Test team, believes the cricketing landscape is rapidly changing and that the time is not far away when several players will opt for lucrative T20 leagues, instead of central contracts. His comments came amid reports suggesting that IPL teams are in talks with a number of English cricketers, including Jofra Archer, to sign annual deals.

"In the end, the game is going in a different direction. The last few years, there's been a shifting of the sand somewhat around international cricket. We'd be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge amounts of money on longterm contracts for a lot less work in these T20 leagues because they should be playing international cricket," McCullum told SEN Radio.

McCullum believes that the boards, including the ECB, must find a solution to the difficult issue because they cannot simply allow their top players to neglect international cricket.

"Those days are fast approaching to be over. It's definitely a shifting landscape and you've just got to be fluid. What you've got to do is you've got to work with these players, you got to work with these leagues and try and allow, ideally, players to have their cake and eat it too because you want your best players playing," he added.

McCullum will be in the England dugout for the upcoming Ashes against Australia, starting with the first Test in Edbaston from June 16-20.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Mumbai Indians Jofra Archer IPL 2023 Brendon McCullum Cricket