McCullum speaks on handling "external pressure" during away Ashes, dislike for term 'Bazball'

London [UK], September 9 (ANI): Ahead of the Ashes series tour to Australia, England head coach Brendon McCullum spoke about how the team will need to handle external pressure well, and the series would be a test of "what they have done, where they come from and where they sit" as a Test side.

England will be aiming to secure their first Ashes series win in Australia since their 2011 edition win when the first Test kicks off at Perth from November 21 edition. They have not won an Ashes series since 2015 at home either.

Speaking on 'For the Love of Cricket' podcast, McCullum spoke, "Man for man, there is not much in it between the two sides. There will be some times where one team gets a bit of luck and the other team does not, and that could be the deciding factor."

"For us, the biggest thing is how we handle the external pressure; how connected, how united can we stay regardless of the outcome in games to be able to make sure we make the best possible decisions in the highest pressure situations and allow our talent to come out," he added.

McCullum said that the series will be a "test of what we have done, where we have come from and where do we sit as a side" and concluded that if the external pressure is managed well, the team will give themselves every opportunity.

Speaking on why he dislikes the 'Bazball' term, a term which has come to describe the attacking, positive and result-oriented brand of cricket under him and Stokes, McCullum said that the team is "not rigid" about things and there is "a misconception" about how they play.

"We never have that kind of mindset - we are not rigid in how we go about things. I think there is a misconception that how we play is we swing the bat as hard as we can, we try to take wickets, and then we go and play golf and have a few beers," he said.

"I find it slightly disrespectful to all of you (players, pointing to hosts Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler) and the people involved in this set-up who work so hard and have such clear determination of wanting to succeed to have it so simply categorised," he added.

McCullum says that he hates "seeing talent stymied" and his idea is to "create an environment which allows you to handle the pressures of international cricket and understand the size of the task but not be restricted in your ability to go out and play."

"You want your talent to come out, I hate seeing talent stymied. Having a certain style or a belief in how we want to play gives us our best chance of being able to succeed," he concluded. (ANI)

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