London:

Both, England and India will commence the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle right after the final between Australia and South Africa at the iconic Lords stadium here from June 11 to 15. The five-Test series will start from June 20 at Headingly, Leeds. "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.

Ahead of the highly anticipated Test series against India, England Cricket Board (ECB) has sacked its data analysts Freddie Wilde and Nathan Leamon, says PTI report. It also claims that head coach Brendon McCullum wants to put more emphasis on gut feeling and intuition. "Leamon and Wilde – England's senior data analyst and white-ball analyst respectively – are both winding down their involvement with the national teamm. 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 further stated.

McCullum believes that data-only approach is helpful in T20 cricket, but its the instincts that generally work in Test cricket.

"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."

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