Former Australia men’s cricket team head coach Justin Langer has complimented England for its back-to-back four Test victories, saying the side coached by Brendon McCullum is “injecting life into Test cricket”.
The former Australia opener, who was reportedly in contention for the England Test coaching job before New Zealander McCullum was picked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the role, added that the way England are playing is “brilliant”.
Since McCullum took charge of the Test side, England have looked a completely different outfit, defeating New Zealand 3-0 at home with successful chases of 277, 299 and 296. In July, they took it a notch higher, chasing down a mammoth 378, their highest-ever chase in the format, to win the rescheduled fifth Test against India at Edgbaston, raising the decibel level of ‘Bazball’ higher than ever.
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“It’s awesome (England’s run) and that’s why we love Test cricket so much,” Langer told SEN WA’s Gilly and Goss on Monday.
Under Langer, Australia had thrashed the-then Joe Root-led England 4-0 in the Ashes series. England then went on to lose the away Test series in the Caribbean. But under new coach McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes, there has been a turnaround in the Test side, and Langer says it makes for great viewing.
“The way England are playing is brilliant. It’s great to watch. Anything to keep injecting life into Test cricket. We’re going to see a great Test match in Galle (Australia vs Sri Lanka) in the next two days,” said Langer.
“Test cricket is magic, it’s one of the great things about playing the game. Anything we can do to keep propping up the game of Test cricket can only be a good thing,” added the former Australia coach.
While the whole cricketing word is talking about ‘BazBall’, the current England coach Brendon McCullum himself is not a fan of the term.
“That’s why I don’t really like that silly term (BazBall) that people are throwing out there because there’s actually quite a bit of thought that goes into how the guys manufacture their performances and when they put pressure on bowlers and which bowlers that they put pressure on. There’s also times where they’ve absorbed pressure beautifully as well,” said the former New Zealand skipper.
England will now host South Africa in a three-Test series starting at Lord’s on August 17.
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