‘Need to be quite malleable, depending on surfaces’: McCullum after ENG beat NZ
England wrapped up a 115-run victory over New Zealand before lunch on Day 4 of the first Test at Lord's, marking a positive start to its "Bazball" reset after the Ashes humiliation Down Under.
England's Gus Atkinson, center, hugs to celebrate with captain Ben Stokes after bowling out New Zealand's Matt Henry to win the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) England head coach Brendon McCullum was a relieved man with his team winning the Test against New Zealand on Sunday at Lord’s. The result comes at a time when the England cricket team has been going through a rough patch after losing the Ashes 4-1 to Australia earlier in the year.
Against New Zealand too, most of their batters could do little when facing a pitch that was difficult to bat on with seamers getting all the purchase. But they ultimately held on as they went 1-0 up in the 3-match series.
“We need to be quite malleable, depending on the surfaces we get. Nothing needs to be so binary to play one certain way. We need to be able to be adaptable and to adjust when required. I thought conversations that our boys had throughout the Test match, from a coach’s point of view, were fantastic. There was a real communication unfolding, and I think that allowed us to be slightly more adaptable when we needed. Clearly, the issue on that pitch was going to be the full and straight balls here. Defensively, we talked about straightening up your defensive clock to be able to make sure we’re respecting the ball straight. But anything that had width, we were trying to throw our hands at it, knowing that it was going to be a low-scoring game, so you still need to keep ticking over the scoreboard,” McCullum said to Sky Sports.
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