Bazball trading hubris for humility, says McCullum

After a norther winter of discontent characterised by humbling white-ball defeats and divisive media comments, Brendon McCullum says England must 'show some humility'

Brendon McCullum wants his England side to "show some humility" ahead of an era-defining period of Test cricket.

The New Zealand-born England head coach, speaking ahead of Thursday's four-day Test against Zimbabwe, set out his agenda for the team and made it clear that reshaping the team's public image was a priority.

The early days of 'Bazball' were characterised by a sense of cheery bravado, on and off the field, but there is a sense that a lack of inhibition in the side's public messaging has become counterproductive.

"It's not just about what you do on the cricket field, it's how you carry yourself," McCullum said.

"It's how you interact with the public. It's the ability to be humble and show some humility and not feel out of reach or out of touch with the general population.

"That's something that I'd like to see us improve on."

After a disappointing exit from the Champions Trophy earlier this year, managing director of men's cricket Rob Key concluded that England spoke "a lot of rubbish a lot of the time", while injured seamer Mark Wood recently admitted some pronouncements sounded "a bit dumb".

Now, as attention begins to turn towards the summer's main event against India and a huge Ashes tour this winter, McCullum wants to dial down some of the more outlandish statements, while Key has reportedly banned any public mention of the team's infatuation with golf.

"There's some things we need to do to make sure we bring everyone along for the ride as well, and that includes winning," McCullum said.

"I think people were excited by the way that we played. They were enthralled by the freewheeling type of cricket we played and I'm guessing they felt a sense of belonging to that type of group.

"But if we look at it there are some ways we've probably let opportunities slip, some ways we've maybe not been as smart as what we possibly could with our comments in the media."

England are firm favourites to deliver a resounding victory in Nottingham, against a Zimbabwe side with just one Test win in the last four years and a warm-up defeat at the hands of an inexperienced county select XI weighing against them.

The challenges of India and Australia are likely to be much sterner but they bring the chance to cement a legacy that lives long in the memory.

"To get to where we are, number two in the world, is good and everyone's happy about that. But at the same time, there's a lot of meat on the bone for us," said McCullum.

"When we took on a project like this, it was not about necessarily settling on 'good'. I think now's the time, working from a strong base, to be able to sort of shoot for the stars and say, 'where can we take this team? What can we achieve?'"

Essex bowler Sam Cook will make his England debut against Zimbabwe, with fellow seamer Josh Tongue returning to the side for the first time in two years.

Cook received a long-awaited call-up after several years as one of county cricket's most reliable wicket-takers and has now been confirmed in the XI that will line up at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Tongue, who impressed with a spirited Ashes performance at Lord's in 2023 but missed the whole of last season with a pectoral injury, has also been picked in a new-look attack fronted by Gus Atkinson.

That means no place for Durham's Matthew Potts, who sits out alongside the uncapped James Rew.

Shoaib Bashir retains his spot as spinner despite taking just two wickets in a low-key loan spell at Glamorgan, while fit-again captain Ben Stokes is expected to offer some overs after a lengthy rehabilitation period from his latest hamstring tear.

England XI vs Zimbabwe: Zac Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Sam Cook, Shoaib Bashir

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