England’s quest for title defence at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 has not ended despite their recent setbacks, insisted Test head coach Brendon McCullum.
McCullum exhibited his faith in England, who have lost two out of their opening three games at the World Cup 2023, including a shocking 69-run defeat to Afghanistan. England started their campaign with a thumping loss to New Zealand, last edition’s runners-up.
England are gearing up for a big game against South Africa on Saturday and McCullum has advised the Englishmen to continue to believe in their style of play that has brought them success over the last few years.
“They just need to stay true to their method and their style which has brought them so much success and not get shaken by the odd bad day at the office. Of course, the boys would have liked to be 3 and 0, but sport doesn’t work like that and sometimes you have to cope with challenges and then show how good you are,” McCullum said in an interview with Mirror.
“One thing is for sure, there are good reasons why England have won two World Cups recently.”
Afghanistan enforced the first upset of World Cup 2023 by overcoming England in Delhi before South Africa, the Englishmen’s next opponents, were humbled by the associate side Netherlands.
“It is a World Cup, so there is going to be the odd upset and that is what you want in a tournament like this. Look at what happened to South Africa. That was a strong win from the Dutch and there will be other unexpected results before the tournament is over,” added McCullum, England’s Test head coach.
The former New Zealand captain is currently in India and is staying in the same hotel as the team in Mumbai ahead of their World Cup match against South Africa at Wankhede Stadium.
“It was good to see the boys out here and have a brief catch-up with Motty (Matthew Mott). They are doing a great job and have done so for a long time and I’m just looking forward to seeing them show their quality over the next few weeks,” said McCullum.
Backing England further, McCullum pointed out that playing cricket on Indian spoil against nine other top nations in a World Cup is never going to be an easy journey. “But this is what they boys play the game for. This is what gets them excited and I’m sure that we will see the best of them soon enough,” added McCullum.
