Essentially,the approach favoured by McCullum and Cummins comes down to highly skilled players being given the mental and physical room to flourish,while also imparting good information at the right times about how they might win the next session of a match. Imposing pressure on players to do so,self-imposed or otherwise,is now anathema.
Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald at the Gabba in December.Credit:Getty Images
As Cummins said,discussing the hypothetical of a young player joining his team:“If he’s empowered to do his role well and know that we’re all there to support him,and we can relieve a little bit of that pressure everyone feels playing professional sport in front of millions of people,that’s where the biggest value is to be had.”
Such ideas were also commonly discussed in what now looks to be one of the more fascinating backrooms of recent years - Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018. In it were McCullum,then still playing,alongside McDonald,Gary Kirsten,Dan Vettori and Trent Woodhill. If RCB broke this room up soon afterwards,the conversations continued.
Whether McCullum and England’s new captain Ben Stokes can wring greatly improved results from the Test team in the short-term will be a big question. For one thing,they do not,on the face of it,have the sort of seasoned and assured core of senior cricketers Cummins inherited from Tim Paine. But that,in itself,is part of what attracted McCullum.
“You’ve got a little bit of apprehension,but you’ve also got tremendous excitement of how big the challenge is,” he told SEN Radio on Friday. “In life if you’re going to change what you’re doing,then make sure it’s worth the risk of doing so. This is a big enough challenge to risk that,that’s for sure.”
Loading
Promisingly,McCullum also appreciates the wider commission of his role. Test cricket needs a resurgent England,not just in terms of results but also a style of play that is both attractive and robust. It’s the sort of big picture thinking that Cummins and McDonald are also wise enough to engage in - and carry out as they did in Pakistan.
“For me Test cricket is on a downward trend in regard to popularity,” said McCullum. “While I was lucky enough to have a career in franchise cricket and white ball cricket and all of that,Test cricket is my real love,and I look at it and think if anyone’s going to be able to reinvigorate Test cricket and get it popular again and try to attract it to the next generation of people,it’s going to be England.
“If we can get that England side to a level where people want to watch us play Test cricket because of the style of play,the personalities you have involved,because it’s entertaining,then Test cricket’s got a chance of not just surviving but thriving.”
“Not just surviving but thriving” is the sort of motto equally applicable to Cummins and McDonald as it is to McCullum and Stokes. Whatever happens from here should be pretty watchable.
Meanwhile,a minor hip injury has granted Cummins an early departure from the IPL ahead of the Sri Lanka tour in June.
After an unsuccessful campaign for Kolkata Knight Riders that saw them eliminated from finals contention,Cummins pulled up sore with a hip impingement,a problem requiring around two weeks of rest.
Given that Cummins was already slated to miss the initial Twenty20 portion of the Sri Lanka trip,he will now get close to a full month at home before resuming cricket duty,with the first of three 50-over games scheduled to start on June 14.
As Cummins recovers,Cricket Australia has appointed a new team physio to replace David Beakley,who was abruptly moved on immediately before the Pakistan tour after a long stint in the job that won him the respect of all players.
Nick Jones,who has served in the equivalent role for Western Australia,was part of the support staff that last summer helped the Warriors claim their first Sheffield Shield in more than 20 years.
The WA system also reaped the men’s domestic one-day crown and both the BBL and WBBL titles in the same season. Beakley’s exit ruffled plenty of feathers within the team,especially due to its timing ahead of a challenging assignment.
Jones will now start the job in Sri Lanka as the head coach Andrew McDonald builds his backroom. The former New Zealand captain Vettori is expected to play a role in the setup,having already been part of the limited overs segment of the Pakistan trip.
News,results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday.Sign up for our Sport newsletter.