England needed ‘improvements’ to take step forward, claims McCullum

England’s 3-0 series win against West Indies showed they had “bounced back with a harder feel” after their winter defeat by India, according to Brendon McCullum. The head coach also said they have become “the sort of side able to go up against the best teams in the world”.

England won the three Tests by comfortable margins – an innings and 114 runs, 241 runs and 10 wickets – despite going through periods when they were put under concerted pressure by an inexperienced West Indies. They also integrated two new players in Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith, while Shoaib Bashir played at home for the first time .

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McCullum, the England men’s red-ball coach, said the combination of new personnel and an evolved approach were evidence “we’re not the finished article, but this is a step forward”. Of the new players, Smith kept wicket impressively and averaged 51.75 with the bat in the unfamiliar position of No 7, while Atkinson took 22 wickets and Bashir nine, including a crucial five-fer at Trent Bridge.

“We knew we needed to make a couple of improvements to continue to improve as a side,” McCullum said. “Until you give some people an opportunity you don’t know, right? Those guys have shown that international cricket is where they belong.

“It’s really satisfying, the growth of the side in general. Sometimes, when you lose you get a period of reflection and what we’ve seen is a team which has bounced back with a bit more of a harder feel to it.”

Jimmy Anderson, the most successful English Test bowler of all time, retired after the first Test at Lord’s , while others who had been prominent in India but were not involved this summer included Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes. Of the 14 players picked during McCullum’s first series as coach, in 2022, only Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Zak Crawley and the captain, Ben Stokes, played in the final two games of this series.

“There are various reasons for that,” McCullum said. “You always have guys who get injured, guys who retire, guys who have losses of form, and you also have guys that emerge who you want to give opportunities to, so there’s a natural progression

“The group and the understanding of how we want to play as a team is starting to get to where we want it to. We’re not the finished product, absolutely, but this has been a step forward. You’re starting to formulate the sort of side able to go up against the best teams in the world.

“There were delicate moments in this series and it really tested us, so it was extremely satisfying.”