Brendon McCullum happy with England's growth in Test cricket after cleansweeping West Indies
Published - 30 Jul 2024, 12:20 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:16 AM
England head coach Brendon McCullum has promised "pretty deep thinking" and a "refinement" of the Bazball style of play after his team cleanly swept West Indies 3-0 in a Test series.
Doing so they bagged crucial points and stabilised their position on the WTC points table at number six with 57 points and a PCT of 36.54. England have played 13 Test matches already in the WTC 2023-25 period. Australia are placed second with 12. India topping the WTC points table with 68.51 has played nine.
Brendon McCullum speaking at the presser after England's commanding series win against West Indies said that he is happy with the growth of the Test side in general.
"It's really satisfying, the growth of the side in general. Sometimes, when you lose, you get a period of reflection and what we've seen is a team which has bounced back with a bit more of a harder feel to it" McCullum said after England sealed the series 3-0.
Also Read: Updated ICC World Test Championship Points Table After ENG vs WI 3rd Test 2024
He further said that England is not yet a finished product in Test cricket but has taken a strong stride in winning overseas apart from dominating teams at home. Incidentally, England lost to India 4-1 in India earlier this year with their Bazball approach looking timid against the Men in Blue.
England Not A Finished Product In Test Cricket: Brendon McCullum
"The group and the understanding of how we want to play as a team is starting to get to where we want it to. We're not the finished product, absolutely, but this has been a step forward. You're starting to formulate the sort of side able to go up against the best teams in the world" McCullum said.
England added a few new faces to their squad and the Test head coach said that as a team they were looking to bring in a few new faces and were happy that they performed in this series.
"We knew we needed to make a couple of improvements to continue to improve as a side," "We brought in some new faces and some guys that have shown that they're very comfortable at international level," McCullum said.
He further explained the rational decision behind dropping a few senior players like Jonny Bairstow after his 100th Test match. Jamie Smith replaced Bairstow behind the stumps and made a big impact in the series. He finished with 207 runs in three matches at an average of 51.75 and a strike rate over 70.
"Keep in mind that the guys who have been in there before did a really good job for us. It's certainly no slight on them, but we felt that we needed to introduce some new guys, and guys with skill-sets which would complement the rest of the guys in our line-up," McCullum explained some of the tough decisions that had to be taken leading into this Test series.
England have a big Ashes series coming up next year against Australia and they need to find the core of the side as soon as possible. Before that, they play a three-Test match series each against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and New Zealand between August-December 2024. They need to consistently win games to move up the table as well.
