Rob Key likely to survive but T20 World Cup crucial to Brendon McCullum’s fate
Rob Key’s position as England’s managing director of men’s cricket is looking increasingly secure after the initial stages of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s review of the Ashes defeat, but the future of Brendon McCullum as head coach remains uncertain and will be influenced heavily by his side’s performances at the T20 World Cup next month.Key is understood to have spoken to the ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, and chair, Richard Thompson, and taken responsibility for England’s poor preparation for the Ashes and some bungled selections while on tour.He is believed to have indicated a willingness to do things differently if allowed to stay on, a crucial concession that could end up saving him.It was reported after England’s defeat in the third Test in Adelaide last month, which gave Australia a 3-0 lead and retention of the urn after just 11 days of cricket, that the ECB wanted to avoid a mass cull.That remains the case despite the tourists slumping to a 4-1 defeat, with their only victory coming in the freakish two-day fourth Test in Melbourne on a sporting pitch.
The review is continuing but the ECB is concerned that a repeat of the wholesale clearout that followed England’s Ashes defeat four years ago, when Chris Silverwood as coach, Ashley Giles as director of cricket and Joe Root as captain all departed, would be counterproductive and leave them ill-equipped to learn the lessons of defeat in Australia, triggering another cycle of failure.Ben Stokes’s position as captain is not thought to be part of the review, for example, as the 34-year-old has already said he wants to stay on and lead England in the home Ashes series in 18 months, when he will remain crucial to the balance of the side.Some changes have been made already, with Carl Hopkinson brought in as fielding coach for the World Cup and the preceding six white-ball warm-up games in Sri Lanka, where the players have also had a midnight curfew imposed after it emerged that Harry Brook, the captain, had an altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before a one-day international in New Zealand.While Key appears to have accepted the need to tighten up England’s laissez-faire approach under McCullum, it is unclear whether the New Zealander will do so.Speaking after England lost the fifth Test in Sydney this month, McCullum said: “Without being ultimately able to steer the ship, maybe there is someone better.
I have firm beliefs in what works.Am I for being told what to do? Of course I’m not.”While McCullum has failed to win a series against Australia or India in four attempts, he retains some supporters at the ECB for his achievements in Test cricket, lifting the spirits of a side that had become demoralised by an attritional playing style under Silverwood, as well as delivering some thrilling victories.McCullum’s record as white-ball coach since being given both jobs by Key 12 months ago has been poor, however.England crashed out of the 50-over Champions Trophy last year without winning a game, and another disappointing global tournament in India could bring an end to his four-year reign.
The postponement of local elections could present an opportunity | Letters
One thing that’s been missing from the debate around the English devolution bill is what this change will mean for town and parish councils (More than 20 England council elections likely to be delayed until 2027, 15 January). As combined authorities start to form, it is these hyperlocal councils that will be taking the lead in shaping solutions that are genuinely rooted in place and driven by the people who live there.At Lewes town council, the conversations we are having focus on how these changes could be an opportunity for the town. Sussex is one of the six counties on the government’s priority programme for establishing a combined authority. As the possibility of a more unified county structure edges closer, we are having to think imaginatively about the future
Starmer’s chief secretary reveals plans to bust ‘the sludge’ in Whitehall
Keir Starmer’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, says he is going to bust “the sludge” in Whitehall by bringing in risk-taking taskforces to deal with problems, and providing the ability to sack senior civil servants who do not deliver.Jones, the MP for Bristol North West, said civil servants should feel “jeopardy” if they were underperforming, highlighting that only seven out of 7,000 senior civil servants were on improvement plans.As part of plans to “rewire” Whitehall, he said big bonuses would in future be reserved for those who showed exceptional achievement. Key performance indicators for senior officials would be set by ministers and those civil servants not meeting expectations would be “shown the door”.“Instead of the sideways shimmy to another team or department if you fail to perform, I’m afraid you will be sacked,” he said, adding that “the doers, not the talkers” would be in line for promotion
UK should consider expelling US forces from British bases, says Zack Polanski
The UK should consider expelling the US from British military bases, the leader of the Green party has said, as he advocated leaving Nato and spending less on American weapons as part of a wider dismantling of the two countries’ defence alliance.Zack Polanski told the Guardian he believed Britain should wean itself off its reliance on American military cooperation, though would not say whether he supported spending more money to replace that capability.His comments come as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, attempts to placate the US president and dissuade him from his threats to invade Greenland and to impose tariffs on European countries who oppose him.Polanski told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast: “I think it’s pretty worrying that we’ve allowed ourselves to become so reliant on American interests, and that a lot of this depends on if Donald Trump is in a good mood or not.”He added: “We should be reviewing US bases on UK soil, and actually looking at a genuine strategic defence review
Reeves plans to refund some visa fees in effort to attract ‘trailblazer’ investment to UK
Rachel Reeves will pledge to refund visa fees for some global businesses on Tuesday, as she flies to the World Economic Forum in Davos aiming to showcase the UK as a haven of stability, despite Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.The chancellor, who will be accompanied by the business secretary, Peter Kyle, will hold a series of meetings with business leaders at the annual gathering of the global elite in the Swiss mountain resort.She will announce tweaks to the visa regime aimed at encouraging “trailblazer” businesses to bring highly skilled staff to the UK – including refunding fees – and speeding up the time it takes to qualify as a sponsor of migrant workers.“Some countries give you a platform, but Britain gives you momentum. My message at Davos this week is clear: choose Britain – it’s the best place in the world to invest,” the chancellor said in pre-released remarks
Who said it: the Robert Jenrick memo or David Brent?
The fallout from Robert Jenrick’s abrupt and chaotic defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK on Thursday continued over the weekend, with the leaking of a memo prepared by his aides for how he should face the press after the event.The six-page document coaches Jenrick on how to answer some potentially tricky questions. While it reflects the character of the man himself, it also somehow manages to channel the spirit of David Brent, the character created by Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, and played by Gervais in the original UK version of The Office, which aired from 2001 to 2003.With that in mind, your challenge is to decide whether the following nuggets of wisdom come from the office of a senior Conservative defector – or from the philosophical musings of the self-styled “friend first, boss second. Probably entertainer third” at Wernham Hogg in Slough
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell becomes latest Tory to defect to Reform
Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has announced his defection to Reform UK, the second such departure to Nigel Farage’s party in four days.Rosindell, who was a shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, announced in a statement on X that he was joining Reform, giving as the main reason his opposition to the UK’s handover of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.While Badenoch opposes the Chagos plan finalised by Keir Starmer, talks about the fate of the British-controlled islands began under the Conservatives, and Rosindell said he felt the party had not properly sought to oppose the plan.After the defection on Thursday of Robert Jenrick, who was Badenoch’s shadow justice secretary, Rosindell’s move puts Reform on seven MPs. While Rosindell is notably lower profile than Jenrick, the departure of another sitting MP is a blow to the Tories
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