'It has changed the way I look at Test cricket'- Ben Foakes recalls Brendon McCullum's motivational speech ahead of Nottingham win

England wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes has given a special mention to head coach Brendon McCullum’s morale-boosting speech that helped them register a convincing five-wicket win over New Zealand in the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham last week. The Three Lions chased down a stiff target of 299 in just 50 overs.

Giving further clarification on  McCullum’s positive mindset on the final day of the high-octane encounter which was evenly poised at that point in time, Foakes said the former New Zealand skipper said that England will win the game and it will not matter even if the results don’t go their way.

“Baz’s team talk at tea — it was like William Wallace!’ said the keeper-batsman who began the series under pressure but who has responded positively with gloves and bat. After he was done everyone was desperate to get out there”, said Foakes as quoted by The Mail.

“The traditional Test approach in that situation would be, ‘see how it goes, see how many wickets we’ve got left, then if the situation isn’t there, do we shut up shop?’ He was like, ‘Nah, we’re not doing that. We’re winning this game. If we don’t so be it — we’ve done it the right way. It doesn’t matter if we don’t win the game’. And it took the pressure off”, he added. “It has changed the way I look at Test cricket,” Foakes further added.

In the final session, England had already lost four wickets and still needed 160 runs from 38 overs and at one point, it appeared as if New Zealand might run through their batting line-up or the English batters might settle for a draw. However, Jonny Bairstow had other ideas as he punctured the spirits of the Kiwi bowlers with his whirlwind knock of 136 runs from 92 deliveries as the hosts got home with 22 overs to spare.

This big win also meant that England ended up registering their first-ever Test series victory after January 2021.