O’Keefe stressed that England have done much better with McCullum at the helm than when Joe Root was captain under the guidance of Chris Silverwood. He said he would continue with the former Kiwi cricketer as England coach despite public opinion to the contrary.
“Look, I’d say sit back and take the emotion out of it. Look at the coaching percentage under him. At the end of the Joe Root and Chris Silverwood era they won one in 17, and with McCullum they’re shooting at 58 per cent. No England team has come to Australia since 2010-11 and done well. Will he survive? I think a lot of people say he wouldn’t. But personally I’d stick with him,” he says. O’Keefe on SEN Radio.
Although O’Keefe noted that he would still stick with McCullum, the Australian advised him to be more open to criticism and increasingly flexible with strategies as he toured countries such as Australia for Test cricket.
“He brings a bold new approach that this England team has. Should they change their ways? Yes. Should he listen, adapt and correct a little more? Yes. 100 years of Test cricket will teach you that you just can’t come up with the same plan and expect different results when you take a hit,” he added.
McCullum has had an increasingly positive impact on the way England have approached their cricket, especially in Tests where his ‘Bazball’ approach has been heavily criticized while failing to deliver results. It was a similar case when it comes to their performance with the bat in the two Tests.
They lost the first two Tests by eight wickets each. The third match of the five-match series starts on December 17 at the Adelaide Oval.
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