‘Baz’ McCullum concedes England’s prep didn’t work
By Rory Dollard, PA Cricket Correspondent |
England coach Brendon McCullum has admitted for the first time that mistakes in England’s Ashes preparations played a part in his side’s downfall Down Under.
A team that travelled with wind in its sails and lofty expectations has been brutally brought to heel by Australia, who have secured the urn again with a hat-trick of thumping wins in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
England finally took a Test match into the fifth day in South Australia, making a spirited attempt to hunt down a world record target of 435 but ultimately falling 82 short.
It has been a chastening experience for a team side whose buccaneering ‘Bazball’ stylings have gradually been worn down by the relentless class of their opponents.
England have been criticised for taking the build-up period too lightly – be it a solitary warm-up against the England Lions on a slow pitch, their refusal to take up a day-night practice match before the floodlit second Test or their mid-series beach break to Noosa.
A string of former England stars are among those to have had their say, from Geoffrey Boycot to Michael Vaughan to Michael Atherton.
Having previously deflected that scrutiny, notably saying his side had “overprepared” for the second Test, McCullum changed his tune and accepted his share of the blame.
“You look back on some things as a coach, of course you do, and ultimately you are responsible for how you get your side ready and how you prepare them,” he said.
“I had conviction, we had conviction, in our methods – not just leading into the first Test but also in between Tests. I look back now and think, ‘did we need more leading into the first and did we need less leading into the second?’.
“They are the changes you look back on over time and say would I do it differently? Retrospectively, we’ve lost 3-0 so you would probably say there was room for change there.
“Again, you put your hand up as a coach and say you might not have got that right. At the time I felt it would give us our best chance because it has previously. But sitting here 3-0, it didn’t work.”
PA
