01 August 2023 , 11:00
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Head coach Brendon McCullum admitted his Bazball formula had to be refined in order to salvage a 2-2 Ashes draw from 2-0 down.
The former Kiwi captain turned coach, who has helped inspire a more positive and attacking approach to Test cricket alongside Ben Stokes, is generally not one for regrets and is happy that his team stuck to their guns despite the early setbacks.
But he came as close as he ever would to admitting that they got the balance in their approach wrong in the first two games when they gave up strong positions to lose at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
From Headingley onwards, with the introduction of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes who played starring roles, England managed to find precisely the right balance to win two out of three games and dominate the other. It was as if the side evolved and developed right before our eyes and even ‘Baz’ reckons his side ‘really grew up’ during the series.”
“We wanted to win and entertainment is a big part of it,” said McCullum. “Sometimes we’ll get the balance wrong with the style we play but I think you’ve got to have teams good enough to stand up to you and make you pay when the time comes.
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“Australia did that in the first couple of Test matches, but I think we refined it slightly as the series wore on. From our point of view the most pleasing aspect is when we were under the most pressure at 2-0 down we stayed true to that conviction and were able to manufacture some results that allowed us to walk away at 2-2.
Brendon McCullum hailed the leadership of Ben Stokes (Philip Brown/Getty Images)"There are times where you look back and say, 'could I have done something differently?' but I don't think we could have come back from 2-0 down if we had that mindset. We stayed true under pressure and really grew up, becoming accustomed to the style we want to play.”
Despite battling with a chronic knee injury Stokes was at his inspirational best with the bat during the series not to mention as captain. Stokes was forced to clear up a post Ashes mixup after the two teams missed out on a drink together in the dressing rooms at the Oval, preferring to meet up in a nightclub later on so that England could honour their retiring duo with their families.
At 4am he tweeted: “To clarify…Our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time events. We decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room.”
And McCullum is hopeful that his leadership will again be to the fore when the time comes to head Down Under, because it makes a difference to both teams when he is on the field.
Zak Crawley was England's top run scorer in the series (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)“For the skipper to be able to galvanise the group the way he did and if anything to go out stronger with the belief about how we wanted to play is testament to his leadership,” added McCullum.
“The skipper is able to bring the best out of the players with his commitment to our style and we know that it is our best chance of winning games when he does that.”
And there is no doubt that the performances of Zak Crawley in this series are testament to the McCullum and Stokes theory as he finished up as England’s top run scorer with a stunning strike rate.
“Coming into the series Zak was under quite a lot of pressure,” said McCullum. “And thanks to the skipper’s sincere messaging he was able to block it out.
“Scoring 480 runs at a strike rate of 90 against the best bowling attack in the world, against the Dukes ball in an Ashes series, people don’t do that.”
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