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But for McCullum, it was the opposite. Death or glory was his mindset. He’d rather go down swinging than trying to defend. I expect his England team will follow suit at the Gabba Test this week.
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There’s been plenty of scrutiny on England after their capitulation in the first Test in Perth, especially on their batsmen who played a series of rash strokes.
I’m among those who’d like to see them temper their aggression and be more discerning in their strokeplay, but I get the feeling this team, coached by McCullum, is about to double-down on their “Bazball” methods.
I suspect he’ll tell his batters, “Don’t go into your shell. I want you to go harder at the Aussie bowlers”.
Listening to England captain Ben Stokes being interviewed after the early end to the Perth Test, I found it interesting that he was emphasising the need for his team to keep being brave in the matches ahead.
It made me reflect on the different interpretations of what bravery looks like on the cricket field.
Stokes – who I’ve also spent some time with in the IPL – is in lock-step with his coach. He was talking about the England players having the courage to continue taking risks and taking the game on.
The bravery I think England needs more of is the conviction and patience to knuckle down and do that hard work to keep wickets in hand early in their innings.
It’s fine to be aggressive on Australian pitches, but you need to earn the right to attack. If you get through the first 30 overs with minimal damage it usually gets much easier to bat, and that’s when you can push the scoring rate, perhaps up to six runs an over.
But in Perth, England were trying to do that from ball one. The result was they barely made it to 30 overs in either of their innings and were beaten inside two days.
It was a mad Test match in so many ways, equal parts exhilarating and frustrating. Those extremes have extended to the reactions off their field, England copping it left, right and centre from the media, their fans, Australian crowds and past players.
The danger for a team in those circumstances is developing a siege mentality.
It’s not a nice feeling when it feels like everyone is piling into you and the team.
I got a taste of that in the 2010-11 Ashes series when Australia lost 1-3 at home to England. We were exhausted physically and mentally. England were on a roll. We were spending long hours in the field, and our star batsmen – Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting – couldn’t get going. The attention of an Ashes series is immense, and it felt like we were letting our country down.
In those times, you need calm heads from the team leadership. The worst thing any team can do under this type of pressure is panic and respond to the outside noise by making snap decisions and changing plans on the run. That will force players to become insular, rather than looking outwardly at how they can help the team be its best.
That’s why I think England made the right call by sending their Test players straight to Brisbane from Perth, rather than detouring through Canberra for the two-dayer against the Prime Minister’s XI at the weekend.
If that was their plan from the start of the tour, they had to stick to it. Changing tack because of one loss or the external criticism would have created uncertainty and potentially damaged team morale.
It’s also worth remembering how Australia responded last summer when the critics came for them after their emphatic loss to India in the first Test in Perth. They stuck to their plan, made some adjustments and won the series 3-1.
Columnist Mike Hussey batting for Australia in 2005 while New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, now England coach, keeps wicket.Credit: Getty Images
So the question for England is not so much about sticking to the broad vision of how they want to play. It’s more about their willingness and ability to learn on the run and adapt.
Both teams will have reviewed their performance after the first Test. Let’s not forget Australia were also far from perfect and looked in serious trouble at various points of the game – the scrutiny England is now under could easily have been on them.
McCullum and Stokes have brought a team to the other side of the world with a distinct plan about how they want to play and a method they think gives them the best chance of beating Australia. They have a battery of fast bowlers who send the ball down at over 140km/h, and they attack hard with the bat.
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It didn’t get them the result they wanted in Perth, but the approach is not about to change.
There’s every chance England will throw their bat even harder at the Gabba. I know that’s what their coach would do.
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