‘I don’t do a lot’: Brendon McCullum plays down role in England resurgence

Brendon McCullum signed off from a transformative first summer as England’s Test head coach with a shrug about “not doing a lot” and a reminder the last two openers to score mountains of runs have since been knighted.

The New Zealander claimed to not initially want the job in May when Rob Key, the director of England men’s cricket, plucked him from the franchise circuit and paired him with the captaincy of Ben Stokes. A flatlining dressing room, Key decided before his own appointment a month earlier, needed an urgent jolt of positivity.

Six wins from seven Tests have followed but, perhaps more importantly, a previously absent identity has formed. McCullum also said a number of previous “question marks” about the side have also since received “a big tick”, citing Ollie Pope’s move to No 3, Jack Leach’s 10-wicket Test in Leeds and Ben Foakes with bat in hand.

Among the various tenets has been loyalty, something tested by Alex Lees and Zak Crawley when they produced rapid century stands in two of the five successful run chases but little in between. McCullum opted to reference what has been a hardy perennial since the retirements of Andrew Strauss (in 2012) and Alastair Cook (2018).

After the 2-1 win over South Africa he said: “We’re very quick to judge sometimes some of the things that aren’t working as well. These are tough cricket wickets, really tough. The last two guys who nailed it at the top of the order are both called ‘Sir’ in this country, so it’s not an easy thing to do.

“We’ve got to allow these guys the time and opportunity to develop. You spend your [time] as a selector, as a coach or a captain trying to catch form, you make things very difficult. You’ve got to give them an extended period and allow that