Lahore, Oct 26 (IANS) England head coach Brendon McCullum has called for improved decision-making in pressure situations after his side suffered back-to-back defeats in the ongoing tri-series, admitting that the team’s inexperience remains a concern with next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa approaching.
England’s latest setback came against Pakistan in Lahore, where they failed to defend 241 despite reducing the hosts to 154 for nine. Shadab Khan’s unbeaten 113, supported by Haris Rauf in a remarkable last-wicket partnership, condemned England to another painful defeat after they had also lost to Sri Lanka in a high-scoring contest in Rawalpindi.
Reflecting on the consecutive losses, McCullum acknowledged that England had fallen short when it mattered most and needed to find better ways to handle difficult situations.
“Any time you lose, you obviously haven’t been good enough to win. So clearly you’ve got some work to do,” McCullum told reporters after the game. “It’s so different, the (two) games as well. I guess from a coach’s point of view there is some stuff in there that you can look at and say, ‘These guys have been exposed to some very different types of games’ where the pressure is really at its highest.
“And you start thinking about ways where you can ensure that you give them some options. Not just in terms of how to bat, bowl or field, but also how do we remain calm, how do we keep our poise and how do we start to plot and plan and navigate our way through those pressure moments… So that will be the conversations we will have in the next few days.”
The England coach also pointed to the limited World Cup experience within his squad as an area requiring attention. Only Joe Root, Sam Curran, Gus Atkinson and captain Harry Brook from Sunday’s playing XI had featured in an ODI World Cup, leaving the team with valuable lessons to learn before the next global tournament.
“I think for our boys, they are inexperienced. And we know that on the calendar in 12 months’ time there’s a big World Cup which, for us to be serious challengers at, we’ve been open to admit that we need to get better. And we need to get experiences into these guys as quickly as we can,” he said.
Despite the disappointment, McCullum believes the two defeats have exposed situations that could help England develop a stronger approach to one-day cricket. He highlighted the importance of finding solutions when matches begin to slip away, particularly during the closing stages of a chase.
“I thought it was another great lesson for us… if you are behind the game and you’re chasing, how are you able to manufacture a way for your set batter to get as much access to the ball as possible and still remain calm and ultimately put the opposition under pressure down the back end of the game.
“So there are some good lessons there. There’s some good learning opportunities. And we will learn from it. Because we are desperate to get to South Africa and be a realistic chance of challenging for that World Cup,” he said.
Shadab’s match-winning innings offered another learning opportunity for England’s younger players, with the Pakistan allrounder demonstrating how a batter can take control of a chase while batting alongside the lower order.
“I thought it was an incredibly poised innings that was full of cricket intelligence,” McCullum said. “And also I thought his ability to be able to manipulate his way to get enough access to the ball as he could, batting alongside the tail, was a great example for our boys who are still young and inexperienced.”
England have now lost all three of their matches in the tri-series, leaving their chances of reaching the final dependent on other results. They must defeat Sri Lanka in their next match on Tuesday and then hope Pakistan lose their subsequent fixture, with net run rate potentially determining the outcome.
–IANS
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