Rome wasn’t built in a day – Brendon McCullum confident England will fire

Brendon McCullum warned his bid to turn around the fortunes of England’s faltering white-ball sides may take time but he has the utmost confidence his methods will pay off.

England fell flat in McCullum’s first series since aligning the head coach roles, losing 4-1 in T20s to India and finishing on a downer after being thrashed by a record margin of 150 runs in Mumbai.

McCullum, though, has no regrets about wanting to implement a “watchable” brand of cricket, with batters urged to go full throttle despite lingering doubts about how effective they are against spin.

And McCullum believes their battery of out-and-out fast bowlers plus leg-spinner Adil Rashid might be even more effective looking for the wicket-taking option, rather than worry about going for runs, in the three-match ODI series starting on Thursday in Nagpur.

“It’s disappointing to lose but Rome wasn’t built in a day and the guys are all in on the belief we’re trying to achieve,” McCullum said. “We’ve seen a pretty clear gameplan of how we want to play.

“We’re trying to bowl hostile overs and I’m fascinated how it’s going to play out in 50-over cricket, that level of hostility can last a lot longer. We want wickets constantly, we understand how vital that can be.

“That mantra will never change. With the bat, trying to be watchable. There will be nights it doesn’t work out, but that’s the style we want to stick to and we feel we have the players for it. It’s about never flinching.

“The further we get along the road then the more comfortable we get playing like that and, ultimately, I think we’ll win more games than we lose.”

England have lost 13 of their last 20 ODIs dating back to the start of the 2023 World Cup but welcome Joe Root into the fold, with the Yorkshireman’s last appearance in the format being 15 months ago.

His proficiency against spin makes him a compelling option with England’s batters struggling to combat Varun Chakravarthy, while the next T20 World Cup in early 2026 will be held in India and Sri Lanka.

“We will worry about that in time,” McCullum said. “I would expect him to play the one-dayers. He will bat somewhere near the top, that is what suits him, and will play a big role in the next few weeks.

“But we will see in time about T20. It’s too far to forecast that. Overall, I think our guys are really good players of spin. We’ve probably not been at our best against them.

“At times, we’ve been a touch tentative. One of the messages is that we want to keep trying to apply pressure. You don’t really have a time where you can just take time out of the game.

“Over a one-day game, you are able to take a bit of time out the game if needed, it’s just being able to adapt your plans.”

Jamie Smith is set to miss the first two ODIs because of the calf injury he sustained in the T20s although it is anticipated he will play in the third and be fine for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Leg-spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed will therefore stick with the ODI group in India, having initially been left out of the squad, while Jofra Archer is a doubt for the series opener with a cut on his hand.

Archer featured in all five T20s, described as “fantastic” by McCullum, but his likely absence paves the way for Saqib Mahmood, who took a triple wicket maiden in Pune, to be selected in England’s XI.