McCullum urges England to learn

Coach targets improvement after narrow Pakistan defeat as World Cup looms

KARACHI:

England head coach Brendon McCullum said his team must learn from their narrow defeats after Pakistan beat England by one wicket in the ODI tri-series at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Sunday, leaving their fate in the tournament out of their hands.
The defeat was England's third in a series of games McCullum believed they could have won, with the coach acknowledging that his inexperienced side needed to improve ahead of next year's World Cup in South Africa.
“Look, the boys are gutted to be honest. They were gutted after the last game and they're even more gutted after this one I think. Fought so hard for so long throughout that game, I thought we had an under par total,” McCullum said.
“But we only got 240 because of some fight and some scrap towards the end of our batting innings. Started well with the ball, got ourselves in a very good position. And then found a way to be able to obviously be put under pressure again.”
McCullum praised Pakistan’s batter Shadab Khan for his composed innings, saying his ability to manage the strike while batting with the tail provided valuable lessons for England's young players.
“I thought Shadab was outstanding. I thought it was an incredibly poised innings that was full of cricket intelligence. And also I thought his ability to be able to manipulate his way to get enough access to the ball as he could,” he said.
“Batting alongside the tail was a great example for our boys who are still young and inexperienced. But look, overall I think the boys are just gutted. We've now lost three games I think we could have won. And now our fate in this tournament is not really in our hands.”
McCullum said England would review their performance through video footage, data and analytics, with the aim of improving their decision-making and composure under pressure before the World Cup.
“We've been open to admit that we need to get better and we need to get experiences into these guys as quick as we could. It would be nice if those experiences were winning games like we found ourselves in the last three. But it's not the case.”
He said England had limited opportunities to prepare for the global tournament, making it essential to learn from difficult situations.
“When you've got an inexperienced line-up and you know you've got a big World Cup in 12 months' time and you've only got 20 games between now and then, you need to have that level of communication and those examples of real-time experiences.”
Despite the disappointment, McCullum highlighted the fight shown by his players, praising Jamie Overton's bowling effort, Liam Dawson's spell and Ben Duckett's batting on a surface that did not necessarily suit his style.
“I was very proud of the fight that our boys showed,” he said.
“We knew we were behind the game at the halfway mark. But we fought our way to a total which gave us somewhat of a chance through a 40 run last week at partnership. And then we fought a lot throughout with the ball as well.”
“I thought Jamie Overton bowling ten straight was a significant effort. Liam Dawson was obviously brilliant with his spell. And Ben Duckett on a surface which probably would not normally suit his style of batting.”
“I thought he was able to find the right tempo to be able to at least kind of give us something to bowl at. But there was some other positive stuff as well. But sometimes it's just you take a little bit of time to be able to review those.”
McCullum also backed captain Harry Brook, describing him as a brilliant player and an outstanding tactician, while saying England's plans to dismiss Pakistan's lower order had been frustrated by Shadab's ability to retain the strike.
“We just weren't able to get enough access at them to be able to put them under that pressure. And a lot of that comes down to how well Shadab Khan was able to hold on to the strike.”
England will have another opportunity to respond in their next match, with McCullum insisting his players remained motivated to represent their country and improve.
“The guys are so proud to play for England. And they're gutted that they weren't able to get across the line in the last few games. They're incredibly motivated to keep getting better and to do all the fans proud as well. And that's what the opportunity is in a few days' time,” he signed off.