Ashes 2023: Brendon McCullum has taken Test cricket to wider audience, says Kumar Sangakkara

By India Today Sports Desk: Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has lauded the innovative approach of England’s Test team coach, Brendon McCullum. Sangakkara, one of the greatest Sri Lanka players of all time, praised McCullum’s transformative style of coaching that has breathed new life into the traditional format of Test cricket. McCullum arrived from Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League in 2022, at a time when England were at their lowest in Test cricket.

“Brendon McCullum came from a white-ball coaching background but wanted the red-ball job as it is a blank sheet for innovation,” Sangakkara said on Sky Sports during the rain delay ahead of Day 4 of the Manchester Test match.

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Sangakkara went on to commend England’s bold move to challenge the status quo and said that England had turned Test cricket on its head.

“It has been beholden to tradition that is inculcated into us but England have turned it on its head and said, ‘there is a different way to play this game’. That has made it completely palatable to a larger audience,” he added.

Popularly known as Bazball, England management have been vocal about taking away the fear of failure from their players, something that has paid dividends in their outings since Ben Stokes took over as captain in the summer of 2022.

Sangakkara further emphasised the broader vision of entertainment in Test cricket that the England side has adopted.

“There is a larger vision of entertainment in Test cricket for this England side and how they make it approachable to the newer generation, the younger generation that have done cricket in reverse – gone into the franchise formats, fallen in love with the game and then looked around to see what else is there.”

The traditional complexities of Test cricket may not appeal to everyone, but the dynamic and exciting style of play that Bazball promotes certainly does, felt Sangakkara. The former Sri Lanka captain concluded by saying that England have smartly been making efforts to plan a long-term sustainability project for Test cricket.

“England are arranging their chess pieces to drive that vision long term to rejuvenate Test cricket and make it the apex format,” Sangakkara concluded.