‘I’d like little more honesty’: Naseer Hussain tells England cricket think tank

Naseer Hussain said: "I feel a little bit disappointed and deflated. That's seven from nine Test matches. We are way down the World Test Championship table for everything that English cricket has got going."

Dejected England head coach Brendon McCullum, left, and batting coach Marcus Trescothick stand after England lose the series against New Zealand on day five of the third cricket Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham. (PA via AP)

By: Sports Desk

4 min readJun 30, 2026 10:58 AM IST First published on: Jun 30, 2026 at 10:58 AM IST

After England lost the final Test of the three-match Test series at home against New Zealand by a margin of 160 runs, former captain Naseer Hussain was unsparing in his criticism of the side. Hussain said that England had shown a “lack of attention to detail in the last year”. The loss at Trent Bridge was Ben Stokes’ final act as captain and sealed a 1-2 series defeat for the hosts against New Zealand.

England had won the first Test by 115 runs before a nightclub incident led to Stokes being dropped for the second Test, where New Zealand triumphed by 253 runs.

Hussain’s comments came after England coach Brendon McCullum had given an interview to Sky Sports Cricket while he watched on.

“You can’t hide behind that. Brendan always comes over very positive and full of energy. I’d like a little bit more honesty at times, you know, like the last game you asked him at the Oval about the plans for one hour on the third day of the tail. And he said, ‘No, our plans were okay.’ And they weren’t. They got the plans wrong.

“And the batting here (in the third Test), you asked about the batting lineup. He said it’s all about when the ball is hard, that’s a good time to score. Well, actually, when the ball was hard, that was a really difficult time to bat and you needed someone to play like Daryl Mitchell and grind out a score. So that today when it was a bit easier as Jamie Smith showed you can go out and smash it.”

Hussain continued: “I just think it’s not just a Brendan thing it’s it’s above the (England) team and Ben Stokes. There is a lack of attention to detail in the last year or so. There have been certain things that should have been done away from the team and in the team. The attention to the detail of preparation for Australia, nets at the WACA, the curfew, was there a curfew, was there not a curfew on the last night, was everyone told about it. There’s so many little things that should be looked after and clear attention to detail at times has been lacking from this team.”

Hussain pointed out that England had lost seven out of nine Test matches now.

“There is talent there(in the England team), but as you see with that New Zealand side, it’s not just about having talent. It is about players understanding their roles, preparing properly and that’s reflected in the way they bat, they bowl, they field. So I feel a little bit disappointed and deflated. That’s seven from nine Test matches. We are way down the World Test Championship table for everything that English cricket has got going.

“The irony is we have a lot of New Zealanders in the back room staff and it was New Zealand that have actually given us a template on how you should prepare, play, behave, act as a Test match nation. So if anything, England have got to learn from what we’ve just seen in the last three Tests on the field. I think that if you want to get better sometimes look at the opposition and see what they’re doing well and learn from them.”