England coach Brendon McCullum has admitted the weekend scuffle between a team security guard and a television cameraman was “not ideal”, yet believes his players are coping with the microscope that always follows an Ashes tour of Australia.
The confrontation occurred at Brisbane Airport on Saturday when a member of England’s security staff tried to block a Seven Network cameraman from filming the squad. Under Cricket Australia guidelines, teams are off-limits for interviews while travelling, though crews may record from what the rules call “a respectful distance”. Ben Stokes and several team-mates felt that line had been crossed.
“I didn’t see [the airport incident], but obviously it wasn’t ideal,” McCullum said on Sunday. “But hopefully it’s been dealt with and everyone’s able to move on.”
Australia all-rounder Cameron Green voiced sympathy for the tourists. “You never like getting filmed, especially when you want to get away from it,” he said. “There’s always sympathy for anyone in life that’s getting filmed in public or in a private space. It’s never a nice feeling.”
England trail 2-0 in the series and, inevitably, their full-throttle approach – dubbed ‘Bazball’ after McCullum’s nickname – has attracted both admiration and ridicule. During a short break in Noosa, Stokes even posed for a photo with local radio comedians holding signs about “moral victories” and “Bazball”, a moment that captured the good-natured ribbing running through this tour.
“Obviously, we know coming to Australia, there’s a lot of eyeballs, there’s a lot of intensity and scrutiny on everything we do,” McCullum said. “I feel like we’ve managed ourselves pretty well throughout this tour. I thought the boys were outstanding. The last week we’ve had, they’re engaging with a lot of the locals and everyone was in good spirits. There was some good banter flying both ways and I think everyone treated it [well] and respected it.”
Some critics questioned the wisdom of decamping to Noosa between the Perth and Adelaide Tests, yet McCullum stood by the plan. The trip had been pencilled in months ago to provide down-time after a gruelling start to the series.
“It was quite an important period,” he explained. “We could give ourselves a chance to allow some of the lessons we’ve learnt over the last couple of weeks to settle and to recalibrate a little bit. I think now the freshness which we come into this Test match with will hopefully pay off.”
England are expected to name their XI on match-eve, with selection debates revolving around whether to bolster a misfiring top order or tweak the bowling attack for the pink-ball conditions in Adelaide. Australia, meanwhile, are eyeing a decisive 3-0 lead but are conscious of public sentiment towards opponents who have accepted – and in places encouraged – the unique theatre of an Ashes summer.
For McCullum, the message is simple: park the noise, learn from mistakes, and press on.
“We’re in a good space,” he said. “If we keep that attitude and nail a few key moments, the series can still open up. That’s our focus – cricket first, chatter second.”
