James Anderson has heaped praise on Brendon McCullum, saying that the New Zealander has brought positive energy into the dressing room ever since he took charge as the head coach of the England Test team. Since McCullum and Ben Stokes began working together for England, the team has been in the news far more often than before.
Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have guided England to the brink of victory in yet another illustrious test series, which they are now in the process of completing against South Africa. After suffering a crushing defeat in the first test, Stokes and company staged an impressive comeback in the second test and are now within 33 runs of claiming victory in the third test being played at The Oval. After being given a target of 130, the home team had a score of 97/0 when play was stopped for the day.
Following the conclusion of play on Day 4, the experienced England pacer James Anderson complimented McCullum on the team’s good performance in the format. Anderson observed that McCullum has brought new and positive energy to the English dressing room ever since he joined the team and that this has contributed to the team’s significant improvement in their performances.
What did James Anderson say regarding Brendon McCullum?
“It has been incredible. I’ll be completely transparent with you: Baz (McCullum) has been a welcome change. Now that he is here, everything has a more optimistic tone. There is always a pleasant environment in the team’s changing room,” said Anderson to Sky Sports.
“Everyone has bought into the type of message he gives about going out and trying to entertain and play a certain style of cricket. Some days it hasn’t come off, but when it does it’s fantastic, and I believe it’s altered not only how the players think about Test cricket, but how the world will think about Test cricket in the future,” added Anderson.
It is important to remember that the first day of the third test match at The Oval was rained out. After then, the play was delayed for a day because of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, but England is still able to get a result out of it thanks to a strong bowling performance overall.
