England coach Brendon McCullum fully understands the backlash from fans in the wake of their 4-1 Ashes humiliation earlier this year. England arrived in Australia late last year with high hopes, but they were beaten hands down by the Aussie side.
The tour was also very controversial. First, there were reports of a rift between captain Ben Stokes and McCullum. Then, during a break between matches, some of the English players indulged in heavy drinking in Noosa, a popular beach holiday destination in Australia. England opener Ben Duckett was pictured hammered, and that got the English cricket team a lot of bad publicity.
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Post the defeat, an investigation was launched into the debacle. With the exception of selector Luke Wright, who left the role shortly after the defeat, the rest of the decision-makers survived, including director of cricket Rob Key. The English counties were also assured that their players would be fairly treated, unlike previously, when despite performing, they were not given opportunities to represent England, even though the national team was not performing well.
McCullum said that after all those things, it was obvious that people weren’t happy with them.
“There were huge hopes and ambitions for success down in Australia, and we didn’t get it right,” McCullum told BBC Sport.
“We had our chance, we didn’t take it, and we got beaten. It hurt. It hurt the players, it hurt the players’ families, the support staff, all the fans that travelled from England all the way out to Australia and all the fans watching worldwide.
“Now you have got to handle a little bit of the backlash of what has happened since.”
Winning against big teams is important!
The former New Zealand batsman believes that to win back their supporters, the team needs to win, especially against the big teams in world cricket. “I feel if we are able to play in that positive, aggressive manner, but we become slightly smarter in some of those key moments and win some of those significant moments in games which happen in big series when the pressure is at its highest, then I think we build that trust,” he said.
McCullum’s England now face New Zealand in a three-Test rubber starting from June 4 at Lord’s. Winning back supporters won’t be an overnight thing, however, a win against the Kiwis will be a good start for McCullum and his bunch.
