Cliff Notes – Treats amid the treadmill fuel England’s white-ball hunger
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England’s cricket teams are fostering a strong camaraderie, with players enjoying unique bonding experiences during their tour of New Zealand, aimed at enhancing team spirit amidst the pressures of international cricket.
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Brendon McCullum’s leadership emphasises the importance of creating an exclusive and rewarding environment for players, countering the allure of lucrative franchise deals that may distract from national commitments.
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The current white-ball squad is undergoing a transformation, seeking to establish a cohesive unit that prioritises national pride and unity, as evidenced by players expressing their commitment to representing England despite the financial temptations of domestic leagues.
Treats amid the treadmill fuel England’s white-ball hunger
Morale is high in the England camp currently. They’re touring New Zealand, a favourite of the players, where the low-key cities allow them to stroll to the ground under their own steam and the nearby golf courses allow them to let it off as well.
Brendon McCullum’s mantra has always been to remind the players how important it is to enjoy the good old days while you’re living them. The Test squad has made a concerted effort to make playing for England special. To create an environment where, no matter what the pull of franchise cash may say to your pocket, playing for England gives you money-can’t-buy experiences.
The same effort is now being made with the white-ball squad. Arguably a more difficult, but necessary task. These are the players who are most likely to be enticed away when the choice is between loads of money to bowl four overs for Abu Dhabi Anonymous or four overs in a bilateral series that both you and I will forget in a week’s time.
That was the reasoning behind England’s trip to Queenstown before this series. A treat normally reserved for the red-ball boys has been extended to the white-ball group. It is a factor that every player has mentioned when speaking to the press. The rarity of such an opportunity to bond as a group, as opposed to run on the treadmill of travel, train, play.
“You don’t always get that when you’re on tour,” Adil Rashid said, following his four for 32 in the second T20I. “To enjoy each other’s company, relax and not think about cricket much.
“That’s the environment that Baz is trying to create and has created…that we stick together because we have that unity, that brotherhood.”
It is a necessary step to make. It’s only two-and-a-half years since Alex Hales, Sam Billings, James Vince and Liam Dawson turned down a tour to Bangladesh in order to take up more lucrative PSL deals. And it isn’t just the money. This year, Dawson and Tom Banton missed T20 Finals Day after it clashed with the South Africa series. Two players, who have been at their respective counties since childhood, missed out on an emotional, and potentially historic moment in their careers, all for the prestige of watching it rain in Nottingham. The reward for shining for your county can’t be that you miss their biggest days.
Adil Rashid claimed four wickets AFP/Getty Images
Next year, Finals Day is on Saturday, July 18. England play ODIs against India on Thursday, July 16 and Sunday, July 19. This was not a unique clash.
Rashid is keen to stress that he believes the environment has been a welcoming one since he became a permanent fixture in 2015. However, the period since 2022 has been a black hole for England’s white-ball teams, as the core that took England to World Cup glory either faded or were rested until they dropped away entirely. Less than a year ago, England gave out four ODI debuts in Antigua, as all of Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner made their bows in a match captained by Liam Livingstone. Of those five, only Overton remains in the 50-over squad.
Context can take many forms, and if it isn’t provided by the fixtures you are playing, it can be provided by the people you are playing with.
Harry Brook’s position as Test vice-captain and McCullum’s role as head coach will naturally bring the two groups closer together. So both teams will get preferential treatment rather than one being the favourite son. Spare a thought for Matthew Mott, the previous white-ball head coach, who didn’t so much pick his squads as get what he was given.
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This is the complication of McCullum’s reign. The criticism from domestic players is that he runs an exclusive club to which they are not invited. England, of course, are obliged to rebuff this publicly. But privately? Well, that’s kind of the point. Playing for England is meant to be an exclusive club. Access to which should grant you the perks, money and prestige that aren’t afforded to you in domestic cricket. You don’t get here easy. You earn it. And once you do, the idea is to never let it go.
This will, naturally, grate for fans and former players for whom the prestige of playing for their country should be enough without the bells and whistles.
But in reality, this is, and always has been, nonsense. International cricket used to be the undisputed pinnacle of the sport because it was the undisputed pinnacle of cash. But when it wasn’t – see Kerry Packer’s World Series cricket or the rebel tours – players went. This is not a new push-and-pull. But please, feel free to debate amongst yourselves the ethics of taking a deal with the Rangpur Riders versus playing in apartheid South Africa.
Without doubt, England are in the privileged position of being able to afford these extracurriculars that make playing for the name on the front of the shirt that bit more special. Poorer boards would not be able to afford a Queenstown getaway and that is an imbalance that will only get worse in the future. But it is a privilege they have, and are using. And, to use the example of Rashid – 38 in February and the elder statesman of the squad – the mood within the current set-up gives him no reason to consider his wider options.
“One hundred percent I’ve still got the hunger, the hunger to play for England and represent my country,” Rashid said. “As an individual, I think that’s the biggest achievement in any sport. I still have that passion there for England. I think that when the passion does die down, or whatever it is, that’s when you think, ‘Okay, right, let’s have a real think about it.’ At the moment I haven’t really thought of anything else. I’ve got that passion, there’s a lot of cricket to be played.”
For years, the white-ball side was an Invitational XI of the best players available on the day. McCullum and Brook are doing their best to turn it into a team once more.