'We're not a finished product' - Brendon McCullum backs English Test team to carry forward aggressive approach

Red-ball coach Brendon McCullum claimed England is not a “finished product” yet and added that winning in all circumstances should become the team’s routine. His reign has gotten off to a great start and since he took over the position last month, England have won all four Test matches by playing an extremely aggressive style of cricket.

For a long time, England’s performance in the Test format had been dismal. Because of this, Ben Stokes took over as captain when Joe Root stepped down. Following a few adjustments in the setup, the most significant of which being McCullum’s appointment as head coach, England trounced New Zealand 3-0 in the series before thrashing India to a defeat in the rescheduled one-off Test.

“We’re not a finished product first and foremost. We’re a month into it and we’ve had some great results and we’ve seen the cricketing world put them on notice a little bit, but we need to ensure that this becomes a norm for us. That this style of play and what we’re trying to achieve is completely authentic to us in any given situation and that will be the real challenge,” McCullum told ‘SENZ Breakfast’

Conditions around the world will mean that we’ll have to be relatively adaptable as well: Brendon McCullum

England has won all the four games that they played ever since McCullum started his duties with the team, but all the games were played at home. The English team is yet to showcase their rigorous approach in the overseas conditions and McCullum hopes the team to put up similar heroics when they tour other nations and play under different and challenging conditions.

“Obviously conditions around the world will mean that we’ll have to be relatively adaptable as well but look, I think that’s one of the beauties of this group. I think there were times throughout the two series that we’ve played where we’ve had to absorb pressure as well. Much has been made of the destruction that we were able to operate with the ball in hand particularly and our hunt for wickets with the ball, but there are times when we had to absorb pressure. When that was needed, the guys really did it, which was really satisfying too,” he added.

England’s next stint in the format will be against South Africa, and this time again they’ll be backed by the home advantage. The Proteas will tour England for a three-match Test series in August.