“You’ve got to make Test cricket enjoyable” – Brendon McCullum's mantra
England’s Test fortunes have seen a massive upswing ever since McCullum took over the reins of their red-ball side last year. In the McCullum era, England have won nine out of their last 10 Tests including a historic series win over Pakistan.
The side is all set to play an away two-Test series against New Zealand, starting 16 February.
Speaking on the second day of England’s warm-up game, McCullum discussed the need to make Test cricket “enjoyable” in a jam-packed cricketing calendar, to ensure that the players understood that they were getting something in return for their investment.
“There's so many options these days that Test cricket you've got to make enjoyable, not just on the field but off the field too,” McCullum said. “Try and get those guys to know when they board the plane to head overseas, or jump into the car to head down to Lord's, or whatever it is to join up with the team, they know they're going to have a great time. The results will hopefully follow.”
McCullum wanted to move towards an approach which prioritised enjoying the game over an approach where cricket was the center of all attention. According to him, this could also lead to an improvement in the player’s game.
“You can't guarantee that, but what you can do is ensure you put some money in the bank when it comes to experiences and relationships. I think for too long, I always felt when playing anyway, that everything was based around the cricket and sometimes you forgot to enjoy yourself,” McCullum added.
“It's not until the back-end of your career you go 'aw, I can actually have a good time now'. That's when you really enjoy it and somehow you end up becoming better as well. So that's the theory, we'll see how it works out, but it's worth a crack."
This belief system came from McCullum’s experience as a player in various franchise leagues.
“I think the back-end of my career was most enjoyable because of the freedom you generated, you were a bit more comfortable. You realise you can enjoy yourself a bit more, can invest some more time with your team-mates and management and you end up with more stuff in your life. The results seem to work out okay and you have more fun. Franchise cricket is not all fun, but the teams that have that sort of mentality, I think they are enjoyable experiences as well."