McCullum said England were ‘too nice’ – Brook

Before the tense third Test against India, head coach Brendon McCullum, according to batter Harry Brook, said England were “too nice” before the tense encounter.

A number of flashpoints between England and England, starting on the third evening, when the tourists complained about home openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, were included in the enthralling 22-run victory at Lord’s.

After the fourth morning, India’s pace bowler Mohammed Siraj was punished for his celebration of Duckett’s wicket, while England’s seamer Brydon Carse and visiting all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had to be separated on the day’s final day.

England’s aggression on the field helped them defend 192 against India for 170.

And Brook claimed that the match was still tense on the fourth evening when McCullum’s previous comments were made.

He admitted to saying to BBC Sport that he occasionally said, “We are too nice sometimes.”

“I brought it up the night before the last day, and I think tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to really get into them,” Baz said.

“It arrived just in time,” she said. Because of what they did the night before, we had the chance to stop being the nice guys.

“We observed two of our guys attacking the Indians by themselves as they went up against them. We simply stated, “We’re not standing for that.”

Gilbert Enoka, a former All Blacks mental skills coach, is a result of New Zealander McCullum’s desire for England to show a different side to their character.

McCullum altered the way that his team approached and was perceived, using Enoka’s theories on team culture as inspiration during his time as New Zealand captain.

Enoka played volleyball for New Zealand, but his All Blacks team is perhaps his best work. Enoka was a member of New Zealand’s rugby team that won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.

Before the one-time Test against Zimbabwe in May, he first made contact with England. When McCullum and captain Ben Stokes mentioned how their team displayed more “humility” at the time.

Enoka’s presence is intended to promote England’s mental development, which includes the series against India and the Ashes tour of Australia this year.

Two days before the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, where England would win the series, he addressed the squad on Monday.

In recent years, England has lost some of their more aggressive characters in terms of combativeness on the field. Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Robinson have both been fired, while Stuart Broad and James Anderson have all since retired.

Brook, who made his Test debut in McCullum’s first summer in charge in 2022, claimed that England had been “nice guys” for three years.

The Yorkshireman said, “We thought it was the perfect opportunity to not be the nice guys that we have been in the last three years when we had a conversation at Lord’s.” to go out and put them under more pressure than they probably have before.

It doesn’t seem to go against cricket’s spirit, I believe. We simply put them under more pressure by not being private or nasty.