Brendon McCullum will remain in England to watch the Hundred, a move he sees as vital after his focus was narrowed to head coach of the country's limited-overs set-ups.
McCullum was stood down as Test coach eight days ago, after a 2-1 loss to New Zealand that handed England their seventh loss of their last nine Test matches, and left them without a series win since 2024. It left him overseeing England's T20I and ODI sides through to the end of his contract next year, which concludes after 2027's ODI World Cup in South Africa.
McCullum's sacking came after the conclusion of a 4-0 T20I series win against India, and before their subsequent 2-1 ODI success, which was confirmed on Sunday at Lord's with a 27-run victory. The former took England to No.1 in the T20I rankings, while the latter was their first bilateral win over India since 2018.
His decision to stick around for the Hundred is in stark contrast to his attitude to the start of the summer. With the Test side due for a refresh following a 4-1 Ashes loss, McCullum took time off after his winter schedule, and missed the first seven rounds of the County Championship.
His winter had begun with a New Zealand white-ball tour in October, followed by three months in Australia. It continued with a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka ahead of the T20 World Cup in India, which finished in March. He eventually arrived in the UK at the end of May, ahead of a training camp at Loughborough before the first New Zealand Test, which began on June 4.
"I'll be around for the Hundred," McCullum confirmed. "I think it'd be great to see some of England's premier white-ball tournament. If you're white-ball coach, I think it's good to be around for that, seeing not just the guys who are in this squad, but also some of the next talent perform under the brightest lights of the Hundred tournament.
"I think it'd be good to be able to see that up close over the next four weeks or so. I'll look to try and get around some of those games and see that, and hopefully we'll see some more talent."
In his previous all-encompassing role, McCullum might well have chosen to take a break during this period, with England's next Test series due to begin, against Pakistan, on August 19, two days after the Hundred's conclusion. Now, his next engagement will be the visit of Sri Lanka for six white-ball matches, starting with the first of three T20Is on September 15.
Given that McCullum is approaching the final 12 months of his existing ECB contract, his presence at the country's highest-profile competition could also be of personal benefit. As the former head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, a return to the franchise circuit is a possibility at the end of his tenure, and the opportunity to network with the Hundred's new owners is likely to aid that objective. Cricinfo also understands Sky and the BBC, official broadcasters of the Hundred, are enquiring as to whether McCullum can join their broadcast teams for the competition.
Whatever the upshot, it means McCullum should be in the country when England's new Test coach is appointed. Andy Flower was top of the ECB's list before he ruled himself out of the running after conversations with the governing body. Justin Langer, Stephen Fleming, Richard Dawson, Mike Hesson, Tom Moody and Kumar Sangakkara remain of interest. The ECB hope to make their appointment in good time, ahead of the Pakistan series, but are conscious of coach availability. A list of interims to cover has also been drawn up, with assistant coach Marcus Trescothick an option.
Whoever gets the job will also have a say on Ben Stokes' successor as Test captain, following his international retirement. If that is to be Harry Brook, he is likely to have his workload eased by being replaced as white-ball captain, despite his own insistence on Sunday that he'd be happy to give all three a go: "It would be tough to do it, but I'm not saying it's impossible."
McCullum has built a strong relationship with Brook since the pair came together in 2025, referring to him as almost "one of my sons" last week.
An example of their bond came at Lord's on Sunday. With Rohit Sharma leading the charge towards a target of 388, Brook took himself off the field to consult with his coach on what to do next. McCullum suggested bringing on Jacob Bethell as a left-arm spinner who drives the ball into the surface. Brook went back out and brought Bethell on, who removed Rohit for 138 in his fourth over.
More awkward for McCullum will be the ECB's need to focus on Test cricket following their slide in results, and their desire to build a team that can win next summer's Ashes. Given England's previous experience with split coaches, including at the start of McCullum's tenure as head coach in 2022, that may involve England ring-fencing their talent for red-ball cricket.
"Collaboratively, I think," McCullum answered when asked how he saw the sharing of resources with the future Test coach.
"Once the new coach is put in place, I think we'll have a good conversation around everything. Ultimately, as long as everyone wants what's right for English cricket, then there'll be some give and take on certain things, and that's just the way it is.
"There'll be situations where you do have to give and there's situations where the Test coach will give as well. Fundamentally you're trying to just get what's right for English cricket, and I look forward to those conversations when the time comes."
More immediately, England's ODI series win over India was their second in quick succession, having also come behind in Sri Lanka in January to secure a 2-1 win. Though they remain a lowly seventh in the ICC rankings, McCullum is buoyed by how the team is building towards next year's World Cup, and cultivating the variety they have at their disposal.
"Obviously T20's going pretty well at the moment. But we made a bit of a pivot in that Sri Lankan series where we decided we needed more variation across our squad. And you look down at our line-up now, we've got left-handers, right-handers, we've got touch players, we've got power players. We've got seam bowling all-rounders, left-armers, we've got legspinners, left-arm spinners, offspinners. We've got a lot of variation.
"The beauty of Harry as a captain and the style that we want to play has been we are brave enough to utilise those variations. When you go to South Africa, you can get very different surfaces as well. So we want to make sure we've got options that we can try and exploit that."