A man always more bash-ball than bashful was never likely to respond with a timid shrink into the corner and Brendon McCullum was typically bullish as England bid to square their series with South Africa at Old Trafford. “One message will be ‘can we go a little harder?’” McCullum said after South Africa blitzed England inside six sessions in the First Test at Lord’s, a seemingly odd response to a decisive first defeat as coach. “Did we go hard enough with our approach? Could we maybe go a little harder and try to turn some pressure back on the opposition as well?”
So north to Manchester England go, 1-0 down in the series but with coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes still certain they have the right approach. On the surface, McCullum’s urge to fight fire with fire appears an ill-fated endeavour after such an out-classing, but his side were not reckless at Lord’s. The post-match reflection may have been that this was comeuppance for the foolish pursuit of a style of play that will never bring sustained success, but few of England’s top-order batters got themselves out.
