The start to Brendon McCullum’s white-ball reign in Kolkata this week could not be more at odds with the start of his Test tenure as head coach.
In 2022, having already sown the seeds of ripping up the rule-book, there was an energy and a freshness around that side who ripped through New Zealand at Lord’s. Two and a half years later at Eden Gardens, the same staleness which has held England back from keeping pace with rapidly developing sides was the overwhelming takeaway.
Their collapse to high-quality spin bowling on a subcontinental pitch felt pre-ordained, as did Jos Buttler’s post-match assertion that ‘more aggression’ was the template they would follow to avoid similar results in the rest of the series. Perhaps there’s merit to that.
