Tags: The Ashes 2023,
England vs Australia, 5th Test at London, Jul 27-31, 2023,
Brendon Barrie McCullum
Published on: Aug 03, 2023
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England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum has clarified that he is open to having a beer with the Australia team. He stated that his earlier comment over not wanting to have a drink with the Aussies in the wake of Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping during the Lord’s Test was misconstrued.
In the wake of Bairstow being run out by Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey in the Lord’s Test after the former stepped out of his crease prematurely, McCullum had told the BBC that he wouldn’t be sharing a drink with the Aussie any time soon.
“I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon. You’ve got to live with the decisions you make,” he had commented.
The former New Zealand captain, however, has now been quoted as saying by Reuters that his earlier comment was misconstrued. When asked if he’ll have a beer with the Australian team, McCullum replied, “Yeah, we’ll have a beer.”
“If we look back to after that test match [Lord’s], I don’t necessarily think what I said was construed in the right way,” he added.
“What I was saying was I’ve made mistakes in the past, and there’s times when you look back on some decisions with regret and I put my hand up to say that. I guess that’s what I was challenging. That’s the grey area around the spirit of cricket,” McCullum clarified.
England were 0-2 down after the first two Tests, but came back brilliantly to win two of the last three Tests to draw level even though they could not capture the urn. The Ashes series had its fair share of controversies, but McCullum acknowledged that the incidents only add to the legend of the England-Australia Test rivalry.
“Ashes series have all these twists and turns and moments which people talk about and are able to remember them by, and that was certainly one of those,” McCullum stated.
Meanwhile, the England Test coach also opened up on his equation with Pat Cummins and asserted that whatever happened would not affect his relation with the Australian captain. He said, “I’ve had the pleasure of being able to coach Pat over in the IPL (in India). He’s an absolute champion fella, and I consider him one of my mates.”
After setting Australia 384, England bowled out the visitors for 334 on Day 5 of The Oval Test to end the series 2-2.
–By A Cricket Correspondent