Brendon McCullum has predicted that England’s batters will have no trouble shaking off the woes that have dogged their white-ball tour of New Zealand in time for the Ashes, after their top order crumbled yet again on the way to a third successive defeat in Wellington on Saturday. Several key members of the Test squad, including Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett and Joe Root, have struggled badly across recent one-day internationals but the team’s head coach believes their troubles are limited to the 50-over format and that England “will have no excuses come Australia”.
“It’s a different form of the game and it’s a completely different kind of challenge that we’re going to be confronted with,” McCullum said. “Sometimes the process you go through in regards to batting doesn’t necessarily translate to runs, but the game can come in time. That’s what we’re holding on to, anyway.
“I think in Test cricket we’ve found ways in various conditions to deal with those seaming wickets, but in one-day cricket we just haven’t been able to nail down whether we stick or twist at certain times. I like to separate – 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.
“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.”
McCullum welcomed Jofra Archer’s form and fitness ahead of the Ashes, after the seamer completed his 10-over allocation for the second time in four days. “For him to get through his full set of overs twice and build towards what’s coming is a real bonus,” he said. “You mention the Jamie Smiths, the Joe Roots and the Ben Ducketts, they’ll be better for the run too. With the prep we’ve had, with the other Test guys who’ve been here for a while too, we’ll have no excuses come Australia.”
Brendon McCullum said of Jofra Archer: ‘For him to get through his full set of overs twice and build towards what’s coming is a real bonus.’ Photograph: Kerry Marshall/AP
But McCullum distanced himself from Harry Brook’s demand for constant aggression with the bat in one-day cricket, saying his players are “searching for a template” in the format and that consistent success would only come when they understood when to adopt a less attacking approach.
In Wellington, for the third time in the series, England’s top order folded meekly after being put in to bat. McCullum said performances had been “pretty disappointing” and that he “expected more”, before talking of the need to modify their batting style. Brook, England’s white-ball captain, had reacted to defeat in the first game of the series by calling on his players to “go a little bit harder and knock them off their lengths”, but the head coach would like to see a bit more nuance.
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“Harry’s said before we need to put pressure back on the bowlers and there are times when we need to be a little braver,” McCullum said. “Then there are other times where we’ve got to adjust to their lengths and lines. We’ve got very good players but we need to just develop a little bit more craft.
“I think in Test cricket and T20, we’ve got our template and we understand how to play, but in one-day cricket we’re still searching a little bit for that, and we’ve got to improve on that pretty quickly. We’ve got some talented players but our performances at the moment in this form of the game aren’t quite up to scratch and we need to rectify that.”
