“That’s life,” McCullum told Sky Sports in response to England’s nine-wicket defeat. “We obviously blew the chance to win the series. We did some good things throughout and in the end we came away disappointed, but also very complimentary about how Pakistan played. But we know within ourselves that we have had the opportunity to have been better than that. and we’re a little disappointed about that.
“You have to give credit to Pakistan, the way the two spinners used to be superior,” said McCullum, after Noman and Sajid combined to bowl out England for 112 in their second innings in Rawalpindi.
“I thought they took advantage of the moment beautifully. Noman from an over, taking momentum away from many present with an occasional fast one, and Sajid changing that round and hanging moment with an occasional slow one. I think it was a splendid bowling partnership. And, sadly, “Our boys were not in a position to maintain power.”
When asked if he was comfortable with the extreme measures Pakistan had taken to bring its spinners into the series, including the seemingly unprecedented reuse of the first Test ground in Multan and the raking of the Rawalpindi surface to exacerbate the supply of shifts, McCullum said he welcomed the initiative they had shown.
“To be fair, I adore it,” he said. “They were brave enough to make decisions on their team, and they were brave enough to make decisions on the surfaces they wanted to play on.”
“When teams come to England, ideally we play on the surfaces we are most used to, which allows our strengths to really flourish and perhaps also disguises some of the weaknesses, which each team naturally has.
“I’m a little surprised that Pakistan has taken so long. Because when you move to Sri Lanka, Bharat, Bangladesh, the ball is always going to show. What we had here many years ago in the past, or at that first Check Fit, where it used to be an attractive floor, it used to be a different challenge. It will be interesting to watch over the next few years whether or not many of these services and products stay, but from our point of view there are definitely no excuses. “.
While remaining magnanimous, McCullum acknowledged that the series loss would increase scrutiny on his team. Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley were notably short of answers in the most extreme conditions, while Brook managed a top score of 26 in his last four innings of the tour, having amassed four centuries and fifties in his previous six in Pakistan.
“It’s very attractive, the same batting team that came here two years ago, and was exceptional in those situations, and it’s the same batting team that scored 800 in the first Test,” McCullum said. “Because the states changed, we were offered other demanding conditions and we were not in a position to adapt to those demanding conditions. And that is an ignored option.
“I have no doubt, and the captain has no doubt, that our batting group that we have had together for the best part of 18 months is the best we have,” he added. “We have a lot of confidence, we just have to make sure we continue to allow the guys to develop and continue to become the players they want to be, and we will benefit from that.”
The spotlight will also fall on England’s spinners, specifically Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, whose direct opposites Sajid and Noman exploited the states with much more luck in the last two checks. Bashir, whose selection for the Bharat tour was based on his natural attributes rather than any confirmed record in top-quality cricket, has now bowled more overs in Checks in 2024 than any other player, but his nine-wicket haul is 49.66. pales in comparison to Sajid’s 19 at 9:10 p.m.
“[Sajid and Noman] “They were brilliant in the way they bowled together and challenged the paces they used in different ways,” McCullum said. “Could we have been better? Yes, of course, right? Every time you lose a test or lose a series, you have to have that reflection period. And we will do that and say, well, the next time we are presented with similar conditions To this one, how will we respond? What do we need to do? Do we need to vary our pace more? Do we need to adjust our tactics more? That’s natural, right? There’s no difference when a hitter comes out.
“You are always looking to reinforce, but you have been very careful not to seek perfection, since it does not exist in an inconsistent game. The sport we practice is going to return with classes in which it no longer goes as you want, but still They have handed you over to the store’s services.
“We’ll face spin conditions at some point in the future, and we hope that some of the lessons, good and bad, that we’ve had throughout this series, will give us a little more foundation to be successful.”
Andrew Miller is a British writer for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
