Coach Impressed by England's Response in Win Over New Zealand
Brendon McCullum has commended his players for their resilience and refusal to be burdened by their difficult winter following England's first Test victory since the Ashes, achieved against New Zealand at Lord's on Sunday. He acknowledged the intense scrutiny his team faced after their disappointing performance in Australia but praised their courage and determination to leave past failures behind.
"The temperature has been a bit hot around the side since the Ashes," McCullum said, "but I thought we were brave when we needed to be. Bravery for me is not necessarily about running down the wicket and trying to slog every ball."
Despite the low scores and strike rates recorded on what McCullum described as an "incredibly challenging" pitch, the coach emphasized that the Bazball spirit remained alive within the team.
"I’ve been really impressed," he added. "The guys haven’t carried any baggage. They’ve come here and put their plans and preparation into work. They’ve executed when the pressure was at its highest and ultimately have got success. There was some progress there. There’ll be other periods during the series when we’re challenged in different ways. There might be occasions when the game is drifting and we’ve got to create things a bit more."
"I thought we were brave at times when we needed to be. Bravery for me is not necessarily about running down the wicket and trying to slog every ball. There are times when you will need to do that, but there are also times when subtly you can change things up a little bit. Even in the first innings, our boys shifted their guard on a number of occasions, they tried to bat out of their crease and deep in their crease, they talked about trying to rotate the strike, absorb pressure, and manipulate the situation. To me, that’s brave. What’s not brave is doing the same thing over and over again and just expecting the bowler is going to miss on a surface like that."
On the Pitch Conditions
Regarding the pitch, which received widespread criticism by the conclusion of the match, McCullum offered a balanced perspective.
"I guess you probably wouldn’t want to play on that pitch every week, but from a fans’ point of view I kind of didn’t mind it," he remarked.
Successful Selection Decisions
McCullum's two major selection choices for the first Test of the post-Ashes phase proved successful. The opener scored the highest individual total of the match, while the returning player, absent for over two years, took seven wickets, including three in an impressive first over on Thursday.
"Sport doesn’t often serve up fairy tales, but this was a small one for Robbo," McCullum noted.
Managing Emilio Gay’s Debut
The coach also discussed the challenge of managing 26-year-old Emilio Gay’s enthusiasm ahead of his Test debut.
"A week ago I felt like things were spinning a bit for Emilio," McCullum said. "[There] was a little bit of work to do just to calm him down. It’s natural. He’s an emotional guy and he wears his heart on his sleeve. It means a lot to him to represent England. That’s natural and it’s pretty hard to suppress those emotions and be able to handle the extra stuff you have to when you come to international cricket, and be able to do it straight away."
"Very few people can do that and there’s a process you’ve got to go through. That was our job and Emilio’s job, to slowly settle himself to the point where he got to the start line feeling ready, confident and like he didn’t have to be anyone else other than himself, and to trust the game that got him to this level. He did that and he would have grown immensely from his week’s work."
