Brendon McCullum changes stance, says willing to have beer with Aussie cricketers during Ashes 2023

England's comeback from a 0-2 deficit after the first two Tests to win the third and fifth matches leveled the series, making it a good one for the hosts.

London: Brendon McCullum, the head coach of the England Test team, seems to have had a change of heart over his comment that he would never share a beer with the Australian players following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow during the Ashes 2023 series.

“I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon. You’ve got to live with the decisions you make,” McCullum had told the BBC after Bairstow was run out by Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey in the Lord’s Test after the former stepped out of the crease prematurely after avoiding a short-pitched delivery.

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The former New Zealand captain McCullum, the architect of England’s ‘Bazball’ tactics along with skipper Ben Stokes, oversaw the team’s 2-2 draw with Australia in the 2023 series, their efforts to press home their advantage in the fourth Test thwarted by inclement weather.

With the series done and dusted, McCullum now says he is now open to having a beer with the Australia team and claimed his earlier statement on not sharing a drink with the Aussies was “misconstrued”.

“Yeah, we’ll have a beer,” McCullum has now been quoted in the media as saying.

“If we look back to after that test match [Lord’s], I don’t necessarily think what I said was construed in the right way,” he said. “What I was saying was I’ve made mistakes in the past, and there are times when you look back on some decisions with regret and I put my hand up to say that. I guess that’s what I was challenging. That’s the grey area around the spirit of cricket.”

It was a good series for England as the hosts came back from 0-2 down after the first two Tests and won the third and fifth matches to level the series.

The series was quite controversial with the many major incidents besides the Bairstow one that had the two teams and their supporters engaging in a war of words throughout the series.

The England Test coach also said the series will not impact his relationship with Australian captain Pat Cummins. “I’ve had the pleasure of being able to coach Pat over in the IPL. He’s an absolute champion fella, and I consider him one of my mates,” he said.