England and Wales Cricket Board sacked its data analysts Freddie Wilde and Nathan Leamon just weeks before the highly anticipated Test series against India. According to a report published in the Telegraph, head coach Brendon McCullum wants to rely on gut instinct and intuition rather than graphs and stats. England and India will play their first Test on June 20 at Headingley.

"Two of England's senior cricket analysts, Nathan Leamon and Freddie Wilde, are leaving the set-up in a move that suggests the national side will place less emphasis on data moving forward," The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Leamon and Wilde – England's senior data analyst and white-ball analyst respectively – are both winding down their involvement with the national team.

"Neither will be involved in England's white-ball series against West Indies at the end of the month, which marks the start of Harry Brook’s reign as captain in both limited-overs formats.

The report suggests that the England team aims for a simpler, less cluttered environment by reducing support staff and encouraging players to take ownership of their performance.

"The England hierarchy believe that analysis is more important in franchise cricket than the international game, where players tend to have fewer easily exploitable weaknesses," the report stated.

McCullum also feels that lesser number of support staff also leads to an uncomplicated atmosphere.

"As part of this approach, England players are encouraged to take more responsibility for their preparation and performance and there has been a reduction in the number of support staff on match days to de-clutter the dressing room," the report added.

In fact, England's approach has been to contrary to India's where Rahul Dravid's era saw more and more emphasis on data.

"While players are always free to consult the analyst themselves, the management emphasise that players should largely rely on their instincts.

"Insiders who have worked across the IPL and the national team believe that franchise teams now use data far more prominently than England."

(With PTI inputs)

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