The Ashes 2023 is at its halfway stage with the third Test, being played out at Headingley, sitting poisely at an interesting passage. The two Tests before this one, in Edgbaston and Lord’s, produced some of the most fascinating cricket in recent Ashes memory.
The series has been fought with two differeny styles: England’s Bazball approach and Australia’s traditional, attritional methods. Both the teams have been throwing punches regularly – on and off the field – and even as Australia gained a 2-0 lead, it had been almost equally-contentest series so far.
England head coach Brendon McCullum has had some of his own words to make headlines in the media. The former New Zealand skipper has been vocal about backing the Bazball despite the losses, the Jonny Bairstow run-out controversy and England’s chances of making a comeback in the series.
Here are 3 biggest statements made by Brendon McCullum in Ashes 2023 so far:
Edgbaston loss “validated” England’s style of play:
While many fans and ex-cricketers believe England’s Bazball methods have come unstuck in the first two Tests, as the hosts lost by close margins which saw them getting out to attacking shots frequently, Brendon McCullum saw the side of the losses which many don’t, or can’t.
The Edgbaston loss, where Pat Cummins and Lyon put up a half-century stand for the 9th wicket to gun down the chase, somehow “validated” England’s Bazball fashion, the head coach believes, his statement perplexing many.
“I thought the way that we played, I think it’s validated our style of play as well. If we’d have got a little bit of the rub of the green then we might have been on the other side of it.
“I thought it was a cracking Test match and two very different styles of play. But like a heavyweight boxing match, not everyone has to fight the same. I thought it was a great Test match and I’m sure everyone that watched all around the world, and everyone who was here at Edgbaston as well, absolutely loved it – and that’s us included.”
Friendship ties broken with the Aussies
Brendon McCullum has always been known to be a cordial, friendly character. But even the heat of the Ashes has got to him as he decided to not be the “nice” New Zealander and bask in the English Ashes rivalry jumper, following the Jonny Bairstow run-out drama at Lord’s.
“I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon,” McCullum told the BBC. “In the end you’ve got to live with the decisions you make, and that’s life. But I feel from our point of view, if we were in the same situation, we might’ve made a different decision.”
“I think it was more about the spirit of the game and when you become older and more mature you realise the game and the spirit of it is something you need to protect. You have to make decisions in the moment and they can have effects on games and people’s characters. By the letter of the law he is out. Jonny was not trying to take a run and the umpires had called ‘over’.”
“We are 2-0 down at the moment, I think it gives us our best chance of winning the series”
No team has overturned a 2-0 deficit to win an Ashes series since Don Bradman’s side in 1936/37. However, if one English team that can do that it’s McCullum and Stokes’ Bazball team.
Even as England remain on the verge of losing the Ashes at home – which would be Australia’s first Ashes win in England in 22 years – McCullum has not shed his cool, dazzling, attitude and thrown barbs at the Aussies about being confident of overturning this series.
“3-2 has a nice ring to it,” McCullum said. “We’ve got to polish up a couple of the areas where the game has sat on a knife-edge and we haven’t been able to grab it. We knew coming into this series it was going to be tight and there was going to be those moments. If we can do that, there’s no reason why we can’t bounce back. Morale is high and we’ve played some good cricket amongst things as well, and we look forward to the opportunity.
“We always say that if we are winning and things are going great, you don’t want to get too high, and if we are losing you don’t want to get too low either. We are on a path to where we want to get to and want to stick to that. Because a) it’s fun, and b) I think it gives us our best chance. Albeit we are 2-0 down at the moment, I think it gives us our best chance of winning the series.”
