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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Yeah, we'll have a beer,” McCullum has now been quoted in the media as saying.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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." <\/p>\r\n\r\n
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. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n