Stick To Cricket: Brendon McCullum should be sacked by England...

• McCullum should leave England cricket

• Structure of England cricket isn't working

• Harmison on the sportsmanship of Newcastle United

• Get tips for every T20 World Cup match from Ed Hawkins

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Betfair and The Overlap proudly present "Stick to Cricket," a captivating show featuring renowned England cricket legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd, and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell.

The weekly show offers insights and discussions, with special guests joining the cricket icons to delve into the sport's hottest topics.

This week the panel are joined by ex-England bowler Steve Harmison to discuss his professional career and get his views on the current England set up and what he thinks should happen going forward.

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Watch Stick To Cricket Episode 34 Now!

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McCullum should step down as coach

Steve Harmison: "I think Brendon McCullum should leave England cricket after the letdown of The Ashes.

"I'll be making a decision on McCullum solely on this one Ashes series just gone. Because as a coach, you drive the message. 

"As a coach, you prepare the players. As a coach, you prepare the team. You make sure you're leaving no stone unturned to make sure that everything that we potentially think is going to go right or wrong, you're ready for it as a coach. And I think England got all that horribly wrong.

"I am reluctant, but I think McCullum should go. Honestly, when a lot of us are talking about, we didn't beat India at home, didn't beat Australia at home etc, I'm not that bothered about that a so much. I'm bothered about this recent Ashes series."

Baz needs to get to the semi-finals

Alastair Cook: "Brendon McCullum needs to get to at least the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup to keep his job.

"You can't avoid pressure, and I think everyone's now learned, you can't avoid pressure. So, you can't avoid when the pressure comes on in the Ashes 2023, the first two games, when it really hits you and England didn't respond very well. The India series, big moments - they didn't respond very well.

"The Ashes obviously have gone wrong. This World Cup is really important for Brendon McCullum and for me, because if the pressure comes down in the Super 8s... they'll be nervy.

"We said all along, and everyone says it, and we're now past it but we've all been through the stage where you get judged on results. We've all done it.

"So, we're now sitting in the privileged position, in a nice warm studio away from the pressure of it, but we said this preparation will be judged on results. This setup is judged on results. Just like I was as a captain when we lost 5-0.

"In my opinion, get through the next stages of this T20 World Cup when they've been poor in white-ball cricket, this is the nature of the beast, isn't it? I think Baz needs to at least get to the semi-finals."

Michael Vaughan: The structure of England cricket is not working

Vaughan: "England haven't won a Test Match series, a five-match series, since 2017. Our World Cup defence in India was a poor defence of the title. We've won no trophies in the last few years, we haven't won an Ashes series, and we've not beaten India. 

"You're talking about this structure, but I'd argue that it's not working. The time that you're mentioning, where you'd send someone to watch a player and put them under pressure - that's gone. 

"I used to panic in the night when I was a young player when I knew the selectors were there. When Mickey Stewart arrived at Headingley, or Gooch and Gatting, I knew they were there and I couldn't even cope with it."

Who could be the next coach?

Steve Harmison: "What sort of brand of cricket do you want. Brendon had an identity. He had a way of playing. So, it's where you want that way of playing to go with the style of coach you want to come in. I don't think this team could play for an Andy Flower in the same way. 

"I don't think Flintoff would do it. I think at the end of this World Cup, if England didn't make a decision, I would encourage them to buy themselves some time because, like you say with Andrew McDonald, who's not a massive name, you've got Trescothick, you've got Flintoff in the system. 

"They could get you through till the end of September and then it buys you some thinking time; buys you who is going to come out of that."

Alastair Cook: "I think it depends on Stokesy a little bit, because you've got to the stage now where you've got such a big character as a captain that the coach needs to be able to sit under Stokes. If Stokes has got that mentality to go and say, 'I'm doing the next 18 months,' you need a coach - not a big-name coach - someone who sits under him."

Michael Vaughan: "I wouldn't be against Tom Moody coming through. He's been in our system with the Invincibles, he knows a lot of our players, he's actually got teams winning over the last two, three years in white-ball cricket. I would have him with younger English coaches next to him. I think it's very, very important that we start producing some of our own."

David Lloyd: "Andrew Flintoff has found life. Andrew Flintoff has done life. He's stepped away from cricket, done all sorts of things, and come back to what he does. And he's with the Lions; I think he'd be fine. I think he'd be absolutely fine because he's got life experience."

Steve Harmison: "The thing that Andrew is you've got this larger-than-life character, but he is obsessed with cricket. He has got a great cricket brain. He understands more than anybody else. 

And I love the fact that he's with the Lions because he was a teenage superstar that was destined to play for England from the age of 15. So, he understands exactly what these young players are going through."

Steve Harmison on Mental Health 

Steve Harmison: "That under-19 trip to Pakistan in '96 scarred me for life on touring. Within 10 days of that trip, I was knocking on Fred's (Flintoff) door at three o'clock in the morning going, 'I can't handle this.' 

"That trip started a bit of a spiral into where my mental health would turn for the worse. It always had a ramification on the early part of whatever tour I went on from there. When Nasser or Bumble would commentate and say, 'He hasn't started very well, he's underprepared,' 

"I used to use that as a crutch, and I was happy when people were saying that. Because the underlying issues with the clinical depression, the anxieties of going away from home, and not being able to train to the level I could for the first seven to ten days meant I would start tours poorly. 

"I wrote in my book there were times where I would be wanting my car to crash on the way into the airport just because I'm thinking I can get an extra three days at home. That's the stupid things that were going on in my mind."

Harmison: I've tried to become England selector, but that ships probably sailed for me

Harmison: "I've tried twice to become England selector, but I think that ships probably sailed for me now. The first time I got a generic email back from the ECB which basically said they didn't believe it was me - like someone from accounts at the Dog and Duck 3rd XI had applied.

"Then, when it was made public, I got a letter off Paul Downton saying "Apologies, we should have done things differently".

"The second time was for Rob Key. One of my best mates was the Director of Cricket and I wanted to see if I could help. During that interview process, it was eye-opening to see the way the selection panel was working, the technology they've got where they can show every delivery from a line and length, the speed, the whole thing. 

"But I also felt that at the time they didn't want anybody to challenge a captain or the coach - as in this captain and coach. I just got the feeling it was the captain and the coach were the ones picking the team and they didn't want anybody to come in and work against that."

Harmison: Whoever handled Mark Wood ahead of The Ashes wants sacking

Harmison: "I work in the media, and I do say stupid things at times, and I don't like having the information because if I've got it, I'll shout it even harder. But whoever has handled Mark Wood from February to November wants sacking. February, he gets injured. He's nearly fit apparently, because McCullum says this, for the fifth Test match against India in July. 

"As a fast bowler, he doesn't play any of the games for Durham to see if there's any sort of stiffness, soreness, or anything like that. He goes wherever to bowl in the middle - in Abu Dhabi or wherever he goes - and then plays and bowls eight overs at Lilac Hill. Whoever has decided that that is a good plan to go into the first Test match is negligent for me. 

"From the medical department, from whoever it is there - he's 35 years old; his career is finished. And because there is just a small, small sample, I think, of where this process has been going.

"And if I want to talk about my level of expertise, it is the bowling element. Not to have a bowling coach is a disgrace, right? I have never had a problem with Tim Southee as a bowling coach; I think it was a good choice. But for him to leave and to go and sit on a bench in Abu Dhabi and not sit on a bench in the Ashes?"

Newcastle United showed how a professional sportsman should look

Harmison: "I was written off; there were a couple of articles saying, 'just move on from him.' Then Paul Winsper, who was Durham's fitness coach and went to Newcastle United, read these articles and showed them to Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby said I could come and train at Newcastle if I wanted. 

"I went in and for nearly nine weeks I trained there nearly every day. Sir Bobby was great with me; he was like, 'You're all in or you're not in. You eat with us, you train with us, you do what we do. If you start becoming Billy Big, we'll ask you to leave.' 

"I thought I knew what it took to be a professional sportsman, but until those nine weeks, I realized I was nowhere near. He'd say, 'Look at Alan Shearer, look at Gary Speed, look at Shay Given- follow what they do.' 

"I came back and went to the Caribbean, and nobody, even from the ECB, knew I was at Newcastle. 

"For those nine weeks, that's what transformed me. They taught me how a professional sportsman should look - how he eats, how he trains. It was eye-opening."

Steve Harmison: Eddie Howe is a brilliant manager, but also a brilliant person

Harmison: "The modern football supporter wants instant success. Eddie Howe has been manager at Newcastle for four years, we were in the doldrums, we were on our way back to the Championship, 19th in the Premier League.

"He's been in the Champions League twice, three directors of football, three chief execs and we've had a few bad results. He's brilliant for me - I think he's a brilliant manager, but also a brilliant person.

"He's a really nice guy; I get to interview him at every home game for talkSPORT. I get some stick from people saying, "what have you got a cricketer doing that for?", but I don't talk tactics or anything like that. I only tell the people listening exactly what's happening."

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