\n<\/p>\n
Brook and McCullum have also kept spirits high on this trip, an impressive feat given what had come before.<\/p>\n
The tour began with Brook standing up in front of the group in a Colombo hotel and apologising to his team-mates for his Wellington escapades.<\/p>\n
In the end he took the blame again, but this time for a dropped catch rather than any trip into the night.<\/p>\n
Brook’s drop of Sanju Samson should not distract from a definite improvement in fielding during this tournament, under the eyes of rehired fielding coach Carl Hopkinson.<\/p>\n
A slapdash approach to training was another accusation made in Australia but here England have trained hard, often longer into the night than expected.<\/p>\n
And while that should be seen as par for the course, McCullum and Brook also deserve credit for their tactical calls on this trip.<\/p>\n
Liam Dawson and Sam Curran were recalled to relative success, while Will Jacks excelled in a new role as a finisher. <\/p>\n
Brook played the innings of his T20 career after McCullum suggested moving to number three.<\/p>\n
But doubt clearly remains whether that is enough to save McCullum, having taken England to a point viewed as the bare minimum before a ball was bowled.<\/p>\n
Having your future hinge on a World Cup semi-final against India in Mumbai is the toughest of schools but this was a situation of McCullum’s making.<\/p>\n
It was he who oversaw the Ashes planning that did not include a warm-up game, and allowed the mid-series trip to Noosa.<\/p>\n
It was on McCullum’s watch Brook, Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue felt able to visit a nightclub the night before an international fixture.<\/p>\n
Just how bad the Ashes were should not and can not be forgotten.<\/p>\n
Other key stakeholders are managing director Rob Key and Test captain Ben Stokes, who are both back in the UK after beginning the week stranded in the United Arab Emirates with England Lions.<\/p>\n
Key spent time around the squad during this tournament and his position will also be discussed by those above.<\/p>\n
Stokes is the most secure, though he and McCullum appeared conflicted in their messaging at times in Australia.<\/p>\n
Stokes batted 152 balls for 50 runs in Brisbane and called for his team to “show a bit of dog” in Adelaide but when another defeat came five days later, thus confirming Australia would hold onto the urn, McCullum spoke of his disappointment that England had drifted from their attacking style of play.<\/p>\n
Despite that, Stokes backed McCullum before and after the fifth Test in Sydney when he could have been more vague.<\/p>\n
Brook was also steadfast in his defence of McCullum on Thursday night, saying the former New Zealand captain was “125%” the man to continue.<\/p>\n
“The things he’s done over the four years since he took over has changed English cricket for hopefully the best,” Brook said.<\/p>\n
“He’s the best head coach I’ve ever had.”<\/p>\n
Critics would say it is no surprise players would back a coach whose key philosophy is a relaxed environment.<\/p>\n
There is plenty to be considered over the weeks ahead. <\/p>\n
McCullum wants to stay and his players still believe in him. Will that be enough?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Brook and McCullum have also kept spirits high on this trip, an impressive feat given what had come before. The tour began with Brook standing up in front of the group in a Colombo hotel and apologising to his team-mates for his Wellington escapades. In the end he took the blame again, but this time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}