Cricket News

‘We’re not a finished product first and foremost’- Brendon McCullum talks about England’s new approach in red-ball cricket

England’s new red-ball coach, Brendon McCullum said that this English side aims to become the best in the business and to win in any situation possible. The former Kiwi wicket-keeper’s reign got off to a resounding start for England. They trounced New-Zealand 3-0 in the recently concluded Test series at home and took out a resounding win against India in the 5th rescheduled Test.

The change in approach by taking the aggressive route in Test cricket has changed England’s fortunes in a big way and they have won four Test matches on the trot that they have played recently.

England’s dry Test cricket approach saw certain changes at the helm, which included Joe Root stepping down from test captaincy, and a clean slate was called for. So Brendon McCullum was appointed as England’s red-ball coach and the maverick all-rounder Ben Stokes was appointed as the new Test captain to signal England’s change of guard and the style of test cricket being played.

“We’re not a finished product first and foremost. We’re a month into it and we’ve had some great results and we’ve seen the cricketing world put them on notice a little bit, but we need to ensure that this becomes a norm for us. That this style of play and what we’re trying to achieve is completely authentic to us in any given situation and that will be the real challenge,” McCullum told ‘SENZ Breakfast’

“Obviously conditions around the world will mean that we’ll have to be relatively adaptable as well but look, I think that’s one of the beauties of this group. I think there were times throughout the two series that we’ve played where we’ve had to absorb pressure as well. Much has been made of the destruction that we were able to operate with the bat in hand particularly and our hunt for wickets with the ball, but there are times when we had to absorb pressure. When that was needed, the guys really did it, which was really satisfying too,” he added.

England’s next assignment in the Test format will be against South Africa, and this time again, they’ll be backed by the home advantage. The Proteas will tour England for a three-match Test series in August.