PAK vs ENG 3rd Test 3rd Day – ‘No excuses’, says Brendon McCullum as England lose to Pakistan

“That’s life,” McCullum told Sky Sports after England’s nine-wicket loss. “Obviously we missed the chance to win the series. We did some good things throughout, and we left disappointed, but we also really appreciate the way Pakistan played. But we know in our hearts that we had a chance to play better than that and we’re a little bit disappointed about that.

“Credit to Pakistan, the way those two bowlers bowled was fantastic,” said McCullum, after Noman and Sajid combined to beat England by 112 runs in their second innings in Rawalpindi.

“I thought they changed the pace really well. Noman from the other end, going back a lot of the time and going fast at times, and Sajid flipping that and going with the slower pace at times. I thought it was a really good partnership bowling. And our guys couldn’t handle the pressure, unfortunately.”

Asked if he was comfortable with the extreme measures taken by Pakistan to bring their spinners into the series, including the unprecedented re-use of the first test ground in Multan, and the carving up of the Rawalpindi area to increase the chances of the offer, McCullum. he said he accepts the plan they have shown.

“I like to be honest,” he said. “They had the courage to make decisions about their staff, and they had the courage to make decisions about the places they wanted to play.

“When the teams come to England, it is good to play in a place that we are used to, which allows our strengths to develop and maybe write over other weaknesses, which all teams have naturally.

“I’m a bit surprised that Pakistan has taken so long. Because if you go to Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, the ball will always turn. What we had here a few years ago, or so. The first test match, where it was a different challenge, it will be interesting to see in the next few years if they persist with these types of services, but certainly no excuses from our point of view we had opportunities, we ran second.”

Despite remaining big, McCullum admitted that the series defeat will increase the scrutiny of his team. Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley were short of answers in dire conditions, while Brook managed to score a career-high 26 in his final innings of the tour, amassing four hundreds and six fifties in the country’s last six.

“It’s a batting team that came here two years ago, and it was outstanding under these conditions, and it’s the batting team that reached 800 in the first Test match,” said McCullum. “As circumstances changed, we were presented with different challenges and we couldn’t adapt to those challenges. And that’s a lost opportunity.”

“I have no doubt, and the captain has no doubt, that our batting group that we have had together for the best part of 18 months is the best we have,” he added. “We’re very confident, we’ve got to make sure we keep allowing the boys to develop and continue to be the players they want to be, and they’ll benefit from that.”

Much of the focus will be on England’s bowlers, particularly Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, whose direct counterparts Sajid and Noman have used their conditions to great effect in the last two Tests. Bashir, whose selection for the tour of India was due to his nature, rather than any guaranteed record in first-class cricket, has now bowled more overs in 2024 than any other player, but his streak has yielded nine wickets at 49.66 low compared to Sajid’s 19 at 21.10.

“[Sajid and Noman] they were smart in the way they bowled together, and challenged in different ways with the pace they were using,” McCullum said. “Could we have been better? Yes, of course, right? Whenever you lose a Test or lose a series, you should have that time to reflect. And we’re going to do that, and say, okay, the next time we’re presented with situations like that, how are we going to respond? What do we need to do? Do we need to change our pace more? Do we need to adjust our tactics more? That’s natural, right? It doesn’t matter if the batter gets out.”

“You always try to improve, but you have to be very careful that you don’t want to be perfect, because there is no fixed game. The game we play will come with periods where you are not. It goes the way you want, but you still have to hold on tight.

“We’re going to be dealing with spin situations sometime in the future, and we’re hoping that some of the lessons, good and bad, that we’ve had throughout this series, will give us more, more of a foundation. so that you can be successful.”