Brendon McCullum insists the way England ‘played validated our style’ despite first Ashes Test loss
Brendon McCullum insists the way England ‘played our style’ despite losing the first Ashes Test – as the England head coach promises ‘they will gain a lot of confidence from Edgbaston’
- Brendon McCullum believes his side has a ‘good chance’ of winning the Ashes
- England were beaten by Australia in a thrilling first Test match at Edgbaston
- The England coach said his side will “keep throwing punches” to win the series
England doubled down on their very positive approach to the Ashes, vowing to ‘keep throwing punches’ at Australia on Wednesday.
Coach Brendon McCullum will not shy away from the transformative style of play that saw England take 11 wins from their first 12 Tests, but has now seen them lose two of their last three, including Australia’s gripping two-wicket win in the first Test at Edgbaston.
“Of course we would have preferred to win, but I thought the way we played confirmed our style,” McCullum said after England went down in Edgbaston in their most dramatic final on day five.
“We want to keep getting up and throwing punches as a team and I’m really proud of the guys.
“We can take a lot of confidence from Edgbaston and if we get the ball off the green I think we have a good chance of winning the Ashes.”
Brendon McCullum believes England ‘still have a great chance of winning the 2023 Ashes’
It comes after his side were beaten by Australia in the first test at Edgbaston last week
It comes as Joe Root (right) has risen above Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to become the No. 1 ranked test batsman in the world
There was a small victory for England on Wednesday as Joe Root edged over Australians Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head to become the number 1 batsman in the world.
But both teams will come away from pocketing the first Test lighter after conceding two World Test Championship points and being fined 40 per cent of their match money for falling two overs short of their required rate in the first Test.
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