England's Test Team Not A Finished Product: Brendon McCullum
Published - 12 Jul 2022, 02:04 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:10 AM
Brendon McCullum, the men’s Test squad’s new head coach, has said that the team is far from being a “finished product” and that his goal is to make success in the longest format under all circumstances a habit.
Under McCullum, England has won all three of their Test matches against New Zealand and recently defeated India in the fifth Test at Edgbaston with the best run chase in their history.
Need To Ensure That Winning Become A Norm For England: Brendon McCullum
McCullum claims that his team has just been producing results for a month and that more work has to be done before it can be considered a unit that can triumph in any circumstance.
“We’re not a finished product first and foremost,” McCullum told SENZ Breakfast on Tuesday.
“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,” the New Zealander, who came to England after serving as Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL head coach in India.
We’ll Have To Be Relatively Adaptable In Foreign Conditions: Brendon McCullum
The world No. 4-ranked team, captained by Ben Stokes, will face its greatest challenge, according to the 40-year-old, continuing their form to foreign circumstances.
“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.
“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,” McCullum added.
“I think there were times throughout the two series (vs New Zealand and India) 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 ball in hand particularly and our hunt for wickets with the ball, but there’s times where we had to absorb pressure.
“When that was needed, the guys really did it, which was really satisfying too. It’s early days but it’s certainly a nice changing room to be around; a wonderful group of guys and clearly an immense amount of talent and ability within the dressing room and really well led by the skipper in Ben Stokes too.”
The next home series between England and South Africa, which will begin on August 17, will be eagerly anticipated.
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