Brendon McCullum will ask his England players to do as he says and not as he did in their bid to become the No.1 side in the world.
With his first Test in charge less than a week away, the New Zealander strolled around the home of cricket this morning for the first time since landing his job before revealing how he would try to turn things around in his first red-ball coaching role. And with the lofty ambition of reaching the top of the rankings firmly in his sights, McCullum admitted his gung-ho, fearless style as a player was not how he would be running things as a coach.
“I’m very different as a coach to how I was as a player,” said McCullum. “I like to allow guys to get to where they need to, to realise their potential rather than play how I played. It’s not for everyone, that style. Your job as coach is to understand everyone’s games, understand them as people, get to know them and understand their aspirations.
“I’ll be trying to get these guys who have an immense amount of talent, playing to their potential, playing for one another, and being a good representation of England. Hopefully we will be able to achieve some good stuff along the way, and certainly in time we can get to No.1, challenge for the Ashes and be up there when talking about the best teams in the world.
“It is going to take time and we have a long way to go, but there is enough talent around English cricket for us to be successful.”
Like the five England coaches before him, McCullum will have the bowling talents of James Anderson and Stuart Broad to choose from at least for this summer. And the record breaking veterans have been told they can operate in harmony together for as long as they are delivering the goods on the field. A simple philosophy that knocks the idea of rest and rotation into the long grass once and for all.
“I’ll probably get in trouble here, but I like to pick the best team every time,” added McCullum. “You never know where things will go in the long term. Bowlers have told me previously that they don’t get tired bowling for Test wins. As long as we’re challenging for wins, I’m sure the guys will be up and ready to go.
“There’s more than 280 Tests between Broad and Anderson. It’s not their first rodeo, and I’m sure if they are tired or need a break, they will let us know. They can work together. They have had successful careers together. I’m certainly not against picking them together.”
