McCullum Hails Brook's Captaincy as England Learn Lessons from Tri-Series

Lahore: England signed off from their Pakistan tri-series with a hard-fought consolation win over Sri Lanka, and white-ball coach Brendon McCullum believes the chastening campaign will serve his inexperienced one-day side well. England had lost three matches in a row, each time from a position of strength, and another defeat loomed in their final fixture in Lahore before Liam Dawson and Harry Brook helped them hold their nerve. McCullum told Sky Sports: “It was a very satisfying performance today. We were put under pressure again. We have spoken extensively during this tri-series about wanting to give experience to some of our players, because while we have talent, we do not have a very experienced one-day side. When Sri Lanka were five down, we were probably behind the game, but Brooky was able to slow it down, make some plays, and we were able to get the wickets we needed. He will have grown enormously from this. I cannot speak highly enough of his captaincy, not just his tactics but also his leadership.” The England coach went on: “I think he is one of the best tactical captains I have come across. He has such an astute brain. He wears his intelligence lightly externally, but he is a very switched-on man and a very switched-on cricketer. He has the respect of the entire dressing room. He leads them and they follow him. His leadership is interactive. It is not just him out there on his own; he calls on many other people as well. He will have learned a lot from being thrust into situations like this, where the game is moving at breakneck speed and you have to make decisions that can win or lose a match.” England had looked in serious danger of a fourth successive defeat when Sri Lanka reached 300 for 5 after 40 overs in pursuit of 387. Ben Duckett's 167 had given England an imposing total, but Pavan Rathnayake, the hero of Sri Lanka's 430-run chase in Rawalpindi last week, once again put his side on course. This time, however, England found the breakthroughs that had eluded them at the death in their previous losses. Dawson finished with 4 for 49 in ten overs, and his spell proved decisive. McCullum admitted England were gutted not to have a chance of reaching the tri-series final, especially after Sri Lanka's win over Pakistan on Monday ended their mathematical hopes. But he insisted the experience would benefit the team as they move on to Australia for a warm-up match against Western Australia and three further ODIs. England are building towards the 50-over World Cup in South Africa next year, and McCullum wants his side to be serious challengers by then. “We will sit back and assess what we got right and what we did not quite get right, and how we can keep getting better,” he said. “We want to be a team that can challenge seriously for that World Cup in 12 months' time. We know we need to get better, but we will, and I am sure we will learn from these lessons. This experience has been very good for us, albeit it has been disappointing in terms of not making the final.” There were individual positives for England. Brook made a career-best 202 against Sri Lanka, Duckett struck back-to-back hundreds in the final two games, and Tom Banton hit three fifties at the top of the order. Dawson's seven wickets at 21.42 were also notable, particularly as he was chosen ahead of senior spinner Adil Rashid, who was omitted for the final three matches. McCullum said Dawson had done really well and noted that left-arm spin had been a consistent threat across the tournament, especially through Pakistan's Arafat Minhas, who topped the averages with nine wickets at 16.11. “If you look at all three teams, legspin has not really played too much of a role, and we want to be a team that can adapt to different conditions and be quite malleable with our selections,” McCullum said. “Dawson is an experienced and highly competitive player who has put his hand up here, and unfortunately for Rash on this occasion, the conditions probably went against him.” The final win does not erase England's broader problems. Their death bowling and decision-making under pressure were exposed repeatedly, and the inability to close out games from strong positions cost them a place in the final. But the last match showed that Brook's side can learn quickly. Brook's calm leadership, Duckett's form, Banton's consistency and Dawson's control give England reasons for encouragement as they prepare for Australia and the longer Road to the World Cup.