Brendon McCullum praised his England team and captain Ben Stokes after their 2-1 series win over South Africa, with Stokes saying “we owe it to the nation”.
England took just 25 minutes on day five to seal a nine-wicket victory over South Africa in the third Test at Kia Oval, a victory that continued England’s remarkable turnaround in Test cricket under the leadership of McCullum and Stokes.
After a one-run win in 17 Tests prior to their appointments, England have won six out of seven this summer with a 3-0 sweep of World Test champions New Zealand to beat India. A record-breaking chase and now coming from behind to watch. From the Proteas team that started the series at the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings.
“It’s fantastic. You start the summer and you have big ambitions, but you know what challenges you’re going to face,” McCullum told after the victory.
“New Zealand were the World Test champions, India were red-hot when we came up against them, and South Africa were also top of the World Test Championship, so we knew the size of the challenge.
“We almost wanted to take results out of play – I know we’re judged by them – but almost take them out of play and play the style of cricket that is authentic to [Ben] Stokesy’s leadership and the guys that are in the side, and I felt we executed that nicely.
“We’re well aware you’re going to be judged by results, but for us it was a little bit bigger than that.
“When you get an opportunity such as this, and the responsibility of being in these positions of leadership, you look at where Test cricket is around the world and how important it is to all of those who have played the game beforehand, and the relevance of it in international cricket.
“For us, it was a matter of trying to bring a bit of enjoyment back, try and bring the fans in to make sure they’re enjoying Test cricket, and hopefully provide a bit more relevance to a game which has probably been under a little bit of pressure of late.
“That was the big goal and it will continue to be so moving forward.”
McCullum added particular words of praise for captain Stokes, who he labelled a “rare, incredible person”, and admitted had surprised him as to how influential and successful he has been as skipper.
“Well I didn’t actually want the [England] job! But now I’ve got it, I’m loving it! Absolutely I am, and it’s certainly different to what I’ve ever done before.
“I’m loving the opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world. I always looked at English cricket and thought there was an immense amount of talent. I didn’t quite realise how much talent there is and how good these guys are and the way they think about the game.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to work alongside them, and I’ve particularly enjoyed working alongside the skipper [Stokes]. He’s a rare human being and an incredible person.
“He’s a great thinker of the game, his messaging has been excellent as well. I thought he’d be good, I didn’t realise he’d be this good. A natural leader. It’s a wonderful fit for him.”
