AUS vs ENG: Did Crosswords! Here’s How Brendon McCullum Handled Criticisms During Ashes 2023 

England head coach Brendon McCullum has revealed how he handled criticisms during Ashes 2023. Brendon McCullum said that he used to avoid reading sports news in newspapers and only do the crosswords.

England team faced a lot of criticism after losing the first two opening games. The Ben Stokes and Boys were mocked for their Bazball approach by Australian fans and experts. Controversies like Jonny Bairstow’s run-out and Ollie Robinson’s angry send-off to Usman Khawaja also made a lot of headlines during the series.

You Do Cryptic Crossword Rather Than Reading Sporting News: Brendon McCullum

While speaking on SENZ Breakfast, Brendon McCullum was asked how he handled outside noises during the Ashes 2023. The former Kiwi captain replied that he used to skip reading sports news and only did the crosswords in newspapers. He also added he only wants feedback from inside the team.

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“I didn’t read any of it, I think that’s the greatest recipe – you do the cryptic crossword rather than reading the sporting news, that certainly helps. Any messaging should come from within, rather than from those on the outside”.

We get the benefit of watching these guys work day in and day out – therefore, if they want any feedback we’re in the best place to give it. From our side of things, we were just trying to make sure our messaging was consistent with what we started out with,” Brendon McCullum said.

Brendon McCullum also noted that he and Ben Stokes were quite clear about their strategy throughout Ashes 2023.

“The skipper and I are very aligned with how we like to go about things and that didn’t change right throughout. But I think if anything, our confidence levels rose knowing that we were capable of going toe-to-toe with Australia,” the 41-year-old further added.

Even after losing the first two games of Ashes 2023, England made a fabulous comeback in the series to draw it 2-2. England won the 5th Test by 49 runs to deny a series win to Australia.

Notably, England dominated Australia in the last three Tests of Ashes 2023. In the 4th Test, England had totally outplayed the visitors in the 1st innings but due to rain, they could not grab victory and the match ended in a draw.