Brendon McCullum keeps low profile but positivity rubs off on England

Since stepping off a plane three weeks ago and heading straight into a media junket at Lord’s, Brendon McCullum has opted to keep a pretty low profile. During the first two Tests of the summer the television cameras have regularly zoomed in on England’s new head coach up on the balcony, shades on, feet up, arms folded, chewing gum like cud as doe-eyed players and support staff jostle for the neighbouring seat. But public utterances about the team’s performances so far? Unusually, zero.

It may be a consequence of his initial opponents. McCullum – aka Baz – is a proud New Zealander, boasting tattoos of a silver fern and his cap numbers if there was any doubt. After England secured an unassailable 2-0 lead over his old team through Jonny Bairstow’s display of shock and awe at Trent Bridge, wariness about the possible perception of him gloating back home would be understandable.

But mainly McCullum’s reasoning is said to be for Ben Stokes and the team to claim the spotlight after a win. He will face the music when they lose. Trevor Bayliss used to reluctantly fulfil his media obligations either way during his five years in the job but was cut from similar cloth. Once he halted a chat with Sky before it had started because the interviewer – Rob Key, as it happens – said he wanted to ask about his trophies as a head coach. “I’ve won nothing, mate, it’s the players,” Bayliss snapped back.

In the case of McCullum, the upshot to all this is slightly ironic. As everyone tried to process England’s mind-bending day-five pursuit of 299 runs in 72 overs, Bairstow having emerged after tea like Tony Montana at the end of Scarface to end it in just 50, the players were the ones to do the talking; they just did a lot of talking about him.