McCullum backs England to learn from Pakistan tri-series run
England’s white-ball head coach believes the team can take valuable lessons from their time in Pakistan, as they look ahead to the 2027 World Cup.
England may have fallen short of reaching the tri-series final in Pakistan, but Brendon McCullum believes the campaign will prove valuable as they continue preparations for next year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
The white-ball coach praised the team’s resilience after they signed off with a hard-fought victory over Sri Lanka in Lahore, ending a run of three consecutive defeats. McCullum was particularly impressed by captain Harry Brook, whose leadership and tactical decisions helped England close out the contest after another challenging position.
"We'll sit back and assess what we got right, and what we didn't quite get right, and how we can keep getting better," McCullum told Sky Sports.
"We want to be a team that can challenge seriously for that World Cup in 12 months' time, and we know we need to get better, but we will, and I'm sure we'll learn from these lessons."
England had looked in danger of suffering a fourth successive defeat as Sri Lanka moved to 300/5 after 40 overs in pursuit of 387. Pavan Rathnayake, who had played a key role in Sri Lanka’s record-breaking chase of 430 in Rawalpindi, was once again leading the charge with another century against England.
However, England found the breakthroughs that had eluded them in their previous defeats. Liam Dawson led the bowling effort with figures of 4/49, while Sam Curran and Henry Crocombe also struck in the final 10 overs to help secure the win.
Reflecting on the performance, McCullum said he was pleased with the way his players responded after being put under pressure once again.
"It was a very satisfying performance today," McCullum added.
"We were put under pressure again. We've talked extensively leading into this tri-series about wanting to get experience in some of our guys, because whilst we've got some talent, we haven't got a super experienced one-day side."
McCullum reserved particular praise for Brook, who he believes has grown considerably through the experience of leading England in high-pressure situations.
"We were probably behind the game, to be honest, when they were five down, but Brooky was able to slow it down, make some plays, and obviously we were able to get the wickets we needed. But he would have grown enormously. I can't talk highly enough of his captaincy, not just his tactics, but also his leadership."
The coach also described Brook as one of the finest tactical captains he had worked with, highlighting his ability to read situations, involve his teammates and earn the trust of the dressing room.
"I think he's one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across," McCullum explained.
"He's got such an astute brain. He wears his intelligence lightly externally, but he's a very, very switched-on man and a very switched-on cricketer. And he's got the respect of the entire dressing room.
"He leads them. They follow him. He's interactive with his leadership. It's not just him out there on his own. He does call upon many other people as well. He will have learned a lot from getting thrust into a situation like this, where the game is travelling at breakneck speed, and you're having to make decisions which can win or lose a game.”
There were also several individual performances for England to take encouragement from. Brook registered a career-best 202 against Sri Lanka, Ben Duckett scored back-to-back centuries in the final two matches and Tom Banton contributed three half-centuries at the top of the order.
Dawson, who was selected ahead of senior spinner Adil Rashid for England's final three matches, was another standout performer, finishing the series with seven wickets at an average of 21.42.
McCullum praised Dawson's contribution, pointing to the effectiveness of left-arm spin throughout the tournament and England's need to remain adaptable with their selections across different conditions.
"Liam Dawson has done really well for us out here," he said.
"If you look at all three teams, legspin hasn't 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."
England's next assignment takes them to Australia, where they will play a warm-up fixture followed by three ODIs starting on 13 November.