Last Updated on 5 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Coach Brendon McCullum had his say following England’s two-day demolition at the hands of Australia in Perth. His comments should inspire further confidence among Australian players and fans.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve had a very bad day today, but we’ve done it before. That’s our blueprint. We’re married to that, and we won’t back down from that over the next four Tests,” McCullum told the BBC following the loss, as quoted by The Roar.
Brendon McCullum says England are “married” to their Bazball blueprint
McCullum’s comments indicate England won’t adjust their style after it was brutally exposed in Perth. Effectively 105/1 in the second innings on a Perth pitch getting better for batting, England gave the game away courtesy of reckless driving on the up. They lost 5/23 in a manic spell that handed the advantage to Australia.
McCullum employed plenty of the buzzwords in his interview following the loss.
“Just because we’re 1-0 down doesn’t change what we believe in. We’ve just got make sure we stay calm, stay together, and we start plotting and planning how we’re going to bounce back, as we have done before. Keep the faith,” he said, as quoted by The Guardian.
“We know what our best game is, we know what gives us the greatest opportunity. We’ve been in this situation before, we’ve been insulating against the drop in camaraderie and morale for the past few years. We’ll head to Brisbane with high hopes and high expectations.”
However, winning in Australia requires grit, determination and humility rather than just team camaraderie. England’s unhealthy Bazball obsession has their fans losing faith by the minute, while Australia’s optimism of another Ashes retention grows.
England have also come under fire for opting not to send any of the players from the Perth Test to Canberra for the pink-ball match against the Australia Prime Minister’s XI. They will have the regroup and bounce back strongly in the second Test, which is a day/nighter in Brisbane starting December 4.
