England coach Brendon McCullum has declared there will be “no excuses come Australia” for his batters after an ODI series whitewash in New Zealand.
The Harry Brook led side were bowled out for 223, 175 and 222 in the three games, not lasting more than 40.2 overs in any innings.
The New Zealand quicks caused havoc with the English top order, taking 11 wickets in the opening ten overs across the series.
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Openers Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith managed just 29 runs between them, while No.3 Joe Root also came unstuck against the moving ball, scoring only 29 runs.
All three are key cogs in England’s Test batting order, but McCullum is not concerned about their lack of form before flying across the Tasman.
“They’ve marked centre a few times and gone through the process and I’m sure they’ll be better for it,” the former New Zealand captain said.
“With the prep that we’ve had with the other Test guys who’ve been here for a while too, we’ll have no excuses come Australia.”
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McCullum is well aware of his team’s frailties when conditions are more bowler friendly, however.
It has been a problem in ODI cricket as England have lost six of the seven series they have played since the last World Cup – four of which have come in foreign conditions – but it has also reared its head on Test tours of India and Pakistan in the last two years.
“I think when we’re confronted with good, flat wickets, we’re a very, very good cricket team,” McCullum said.
“I think we play a high-octane style of cricket and those conditions suit us. When the wickets have a little bit in them and they’re a bit more challenging, whether that be spin or seam or swing, we probably can’t quite adapt our tempo quick enough.
“We’ve got some talented players but, unfortunately, our performances at the moment in this form of the game aren’t quite up to scratch and we need to rectify that.”
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Stand-in Australian captain Steve Smith said in the lead up to his Sheffield Shield century for New South Wales during the week, that he expects the pitches this summer to make life tough for batters, as they have done in recent years.
McCullum has clearly taken those comments on board, knowing they are unlikely to be welcomed with slow, flat pitches like they play on at home.
He suggested they have a plan of how to counteract the Australian conditions, and the poor white ball form does not impact that.
“I like to separate it. I think in T20 cricket we’re going really well and in Test cricket we have a pretty decent idea of where we’re at – and I think we’ve performed reasonably well, albeit we have a huge challenge ahead of us,” McCullum said.
“One-day cricket is clearly the area we need to improve, and my comments are more directed at one-day cricket. I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, we have a pretty good understanding of how we’re going to go about it.
“It doesn’t guarantee us anything but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series.”
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England’s next match will be first Test at Optus Stadium, starting November 21.
They have opted against playing any warm-up matches before the series opener, but McCullum is not playing down the challenge that awaits them.
“I’m proper excited,” he said. “We’re incredibly respectful of the challenge Australia is going to present us and we know how hard that tour is going to be.
“It’s going to require a team to stay together right throughout, to be as strong as we can to try and block out any of the outside noise.
“But we’re very respectful of who we’re coming up against, we’re so excited to get over there and we can’t wait to get started.”
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