McCullum: 'No excuses come Australia' after historically poor NZ campaign

Brendon McCullum conceded that England "clearly need to improve" in one-day cricket after they fell to a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand.

'Go harder' has been the mantra of this England team, with Harry Brook imploring his side to double down in their efforts with the bat after his side's first collapse in Mount Maunganui a week ago. Two matches and two further batting failures later, however, McCullum has reset the party line and called for England to adopt a more considered approach.

"Harry's said before that we need to put pressure back on the bowlers, and there are times when we do need to be a little braver and put some pressure on the bowlers," McCullum said following the defeat in Wellington. "And then there are other times where we've got to adjust to their lengths and lines.

"Not necessarily in a high-risk sort of way but just by being brave enough - whether that's coming down the wicket or moving around the crease - just get things going a little bit more and bounce off one another."

Across the series, England lost 11 wickets in the opening 10 overs of the innings, compared to New Zealand's four, and were bowled out in all three matches. Their innings in Wellington was their longest of the trip, batting for 40.2 overs before they were all out.

"I think when we're confronted with good, flat wickets, we're a very, very good cricket team," McCullum said. "I think we play a high-octane style of cricket and those conditions suit us. When the wickets have a little bit in them and they're a bit more challenging, whether that be spin or seam or swing, we probably can't quite adapt our tempo quick enough.

"We've got some talented players but, unfortunately, our performances at the moment in this form of the game aren't quite up to scratch and we need to rectify that."

England's top order combined for an historically poor series, managing just 84 runs between the top four, the lowest tally in one-day international history. Of the top six, only Brook, Joe Root and Jos Buttler made a score of 20 across the three matches.

McCullum, however, does not believe it is a concern heading towards the Ashes, where Australia are expected to serve up similar styles of wickets. In the longer format, he argues that England have been able to counter different conditions well.

"I like to separate it," McCullum explained. "I think in T20 cricket we're going really well and in Test cricket we have a pretty decent idea of where we're at - and I think we've performed reasonably well, albeit we have a huge challenge ahead of us.

"One-day cricket is clearly the area we need to improve, and my comments are more directed at one-day cricket. I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, we have a pretty good understanding of how we're going to go about it. It doesn't guarantee us anything but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series."

He also believes that, despite a number of players experiencing a poor run of scores, the likes of Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett and Root will be "better for the run" after getting a number of games under their belt.

"They've marked centre a few times and gone through the process and I'm sure they'll be better for it. With the prep that we've had with the other Test guys who've been here for a while too, we'll have no excuses come Australia."

McCullum identified Jamie Overton as England's "huge win" for the tour, after the bowling allrounder contributed with the bat in all three matches and put together his finest performance in ODI cricket in Wellington, scoring 68 runs and taking two for 32 with the ball.

"I think there's times when we think he's a better player than he does," McCullum said. "And on this tour he's fully believed in the player he can be at this level. There's not too many players around the world who can bowl 140kph, field the way he does and hit the ball as cleanly. It's been a huge series for Jamie…he's incredibly well liked within the group and we're all delighted for him."

England's next competitive fixture will now be in Perth, with the long-awaited Ashes series finally around the corner after years of build-up.

"I'm proper excited," McCullum concluded. "We're incredibly respectful of the challenge Australia is going to present us and we know how hard that tour is going to be.

"It's going to require a team to stay together right throughout, to be as strong as we can to try and block out any of the outside noise. But we're very respectful of who we're coming up against, we're so excited to get over there and we can't wait to get started."

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