No goody-two-shoes for England as they shed niceties looking to seek the All Blacks mentality on the field.
Brook embraces ‘no goody-two-shoes as England seek All Blacks mentality.
This summer, Gilbert Enoka, a former All Blacks mental skills coach, has been shaping the minds of the England men’s Test team. At a time when Harry Brook argues the New Zealand rugby team has to shed their “nice guy” image, the man known for the team’s “no dickheads policy” has been bolstering the team’s mental toughness.
Up until now, Enoka has mostly collaborated with Ben Stokes and McCullum. Nonetheless, his strategies were crucial to a change in New Zealand rugby culture that resulted in consecutive Rugby World Cups in 2011 and 2015, and it is hoped that his knowledge will spark an equally successful era for England’s cricket players.
During the third Test at Lord’s, England shown a remarkable level of unity on the pitch, especially when they rounded on India on the last day. Following a great deal of work and conversation, England won the last session to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Close-in fielders, particularly Brook, were not afraid to speak to India’s batsmen.
On the third evening, the touch paper was ignited when Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were subjected to the full might of the Indian team after the former used delaying tactics to limit an unpleasant mini-session to one over. Shubman Gill spearheaded the demonstrations, accusing Crawley of wasting time. Crawley promptly retaliated against the India captain for his own time-wasting actions earlier in the game.
It turns out that McCullum had said his team was a bit too kind before the Test. According to Brook, England had savoured the chance to challenge India in the same manner that India had challenged them in an effort to gain a competitive advantage.
“It was good fun,” Brook said. “We watched the Indians go hard at Creeps (Crawley) and Ducky. We had a conversation, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to not be the nice guys that we have been in the past three years, to go out there and put them under more pressure than what they have probably had before.
“He (McCullum) actually said a few days before that we are too nice sometimes, and I brought it up the night before the last day: ‘Baz said the other day we’re too nice, I think tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them’.
“I don’t know if it had an effect on how we got the wickets, but it certainly had an effect on the atmosphere, the crowd. We bowled really well and got the wickets in the end.”
At the conclusion of the Lord’s Test, Stokes and Gill shook hands, acknowledging that the on-field banter had sparked a heated match. Given that this game is a must-win for the tourists, England anticipates that India will give them a serious retribution in Manchester this week. Even though Brook is excited about the possibility of increased feistiness, especially considering how much more involved the audience grew as a result, he believes it has not and will not go too far.
“I’ve had a lot of compliments,” he said. “Everybody said it was awesome to watch and it looked like there was 11 versus two when we were fielding. It was good fun, I have to admit, it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.
“I don’t think it’s against the spirit of cricket. We weren’t being personal, we weren’t being nasty, we were just putting them under more pressure.
“We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren’t going out there effing and jeffing at them, and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.”