After a 4-1 series defeat in India earlier this year, England head coach Brendon McCullum had promised “pretty deep thinking” and a “refinement” of the Bazball style of play as well. However, they recently whitewashed the West Indies at home. However, McCullum reckoned that England weren’t yet a “finished product” but they had taken long strides towards becoming the team that can win overseas too and not just at home.

“It’s really satisfying, the growth of the side in general,” McCullum said after England sealed the series 3-0. “Sometimes, when you lose, you get a period of reflection and what we’ve seen is a team which has bounced back with a bit more of a harder feel to it. The group and the understanding of how we want to play as a team is starting to get to where we want it to. We’re not the finished product, absolutely, but this has been a step forward. You’re starting to formulate the sort of side able to go up against the best teams in the world. There were delicate moments in this series and it really tested us, so it was extremely satisfying.”

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While England welcomed Gus Atkinson with the retirement of James Anderson, their most decorated bowler, Jamie Smith also stepped into the big shoes of Jonny Bairstow who was dropped after his 100th Test as well. While Atkinson shone with 22 wickets across 3 Tests, Jamie Smith scored over 200 runs at a strike rate of nearly 72 as well.

“We knew we needed to make a couple of improvements to continue to improve as a side,” McCullum said. “We brought in some new faces and some guys that have shown that they’re very comfortable at international level, and until you give some people an opportunity, you don’t know right? What we’ve seen from Gus Atkinson, from Shoaib Bashir and Jamie Smith.. these guys have shown that international cricket is where they belong and they’ve performed accordingly. It’s really satisfying from that point of view, but also the growth of the side in general.”

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“Keep in mind that the guys who have been in there before did a really good job for us. It’s certainly no slight on them, but we felt that we needed to introduce some new guys, and guys with skill-sets which would complement the rest of the guys in our line-up,” Brendon McCullum concluded. “We opted for that and you hope they go well, and you don’t ask for instant gratification when it comes to those. But the way the series played out, you’d say the guys have performed and certainly shown they’re good enough at this level.”