England Test head coach Brendon McCullum said that Test skipper Ben Stokes is a “guy who writes his own scripts and achieves some pretty special things”.
England will play the first Test against New Zealand from February 16 onwards at Mount Maunganui.
The McCullum-Stokes duo has been a huge hit in English cricket ever since taking over the red-ball side last over, winning nine out of their first 10 Tests with help of an attacking, fearless and positive approach to cricket.
“With the skipper in charge, I am not sure what is possible for this side because he is a guy who writes his own scripts and achieves some pretty special things. I know the plans he has for this team are quite lofty and he’ll try to do what he can to drag the boys along for the ride,” said McCullum as quoted by Sky Sports.
“It has been a good start. Results have been great, but it is not so much about results. I know we get judged on them, but that’s not really my focus, and that goes for the skipper as well.”
“We just want the guys to play a style of cricket that gives them the greatest opportunity to allow their talent to come out and have a good time doing it.”
“This year has been quite amazing. We know there are some big challenges in front of us as well but whatever happens we have achieved some pretty cool stuff over the last little while and if we can take forward the lessons we have learned from the past 10 or 11 months it will give us an opportunity to do something pretty special in the next little while,” concluded McCullum.
McCullum hopes that the local fans in New Zealand will enjoy the brand of cricket he will be bringing to their homes, this time as a coach for England unlike the years he spent wearing the Black jersey for Kiwis.
“They are going to be entertained, regardless of whether New Zealand win or we win. People are patriotic and want their own team to win, but this is one of the reasons we are in the job we are in – we want to make Test cricket entertaining and ensure that people walk away with a great experience from the game.”
“Even if your team does not win, you can still walk away thinking you have had a hell of a day out. Hopefully, that will be the case throughout this series,” concluded McCullum. (ANI)
