McCullum sets Ashes target after diabolical NZ series as head coach believes 50-over struggles are in a category of their own.
McCullum: ‘No excuses come Australia’ after historically poor NZ campaign.
Following England’s 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand, Brendon McCullum acknowledged that they “clearly need to improve” in one-day cricket.
This England team’s motto has been “Go harder,” with Harry Brook pleading with his team to increase their batting effort following their first defeat in Mount Maunganui a week ago. However, McCullum has reset the party line and urged England to take a more deliberate approach after two games and two more batting failures.
“Harry’s said before that we need to put pressure back on the bowlers, and there are times when we do need to be a little braver and put some pressure on the bowlers,” McCullum said following the defeat in Wellington. “And then there are other times where we’ve got to adjust to their lengths and lines.
“Not necessarily in a high-risk sort of way but just by being brave enough – whether that’s coming down the wicket or moving around the crease – just get things going a little bit more and bounce off one another.”
Over the course of the series, England was bowled out in all three games and lost 11 wickets in the first ten overs of the innings, compared to New Zealand’s four. They batted for 40.2 overs in Wellington before being out, making it their longest innings of the trip.
“I think when we’re confronted with good, flat wickets, we’re a very, very good cricket team,” McCullum said. “I think we play a high-octane style of cricket and those conditions suit us. When the wickets have a little bit in them and they’re a bit more challenging, whether that be spin or seam or swing, we probably can’t quite adapt our tempo quick enough.
“We’ve got some talented players but, unfortunately, our performances at the moment in this form of the game aren’t quite up to scratch and we need to rectify that.”
With just 84 runs amongst the top four, the lowest total in one-day international history, England’s top order combined for a historically bad series. Only Brook, Joe Root, and Jos Buttler scored 20 points in all three games out of the top six.
However, McCullum doesn’t think it’s a problem going into the Ashes, where Australia is anticipated to use similar wicketing techniques. In the extended format, he makes the case that England has done a good job of adapting to various circumstances.
“I like to separate it,” McCullum explained. “I think in T20 cricket we’re going really well and in Test cricket we have a pretty decent idea of where we’re at – and I think we’ve performed reasonably well, albeit we have a huge challenge ahead of us.
“One-day cricket is clearly the area we need to improve, and my comments are more directed at one-day cricket. I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, we have a pretty good understanding of how we’re going to go about it. It doesn’t guarantee us anything but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series.”
England’s next competitive fixture will now be in Perth, with the long-awaited Ashes series finally around the corner after years of build-up.
“I’m proper excited,” McCullum concluded. “We’re incredibly respectful of the challenge Australia is going to present us and we know how hard that tour is going to be.
“It’s going to require a team to stay together right throughout, to be as strong as we can to try and block out any of the outside noise. But we’re very respectful of who we’re coming up against, we’re so excited to get over there and we can’t wait to get started.”