We Have Learned Vital Lessons, Brook's Captaincy Makes Me Proud: McCullum

Lahore: England closed out their tri-nation campaign in Pakistan with a hard-fought consolation victory over Sri Lanka, ending a tour that delivered three consecutive defeats and exposed exactly where this young side falters under pressure — and where it holds firm. White-ball head coach Brendon McCullum said afterwards that the lessons would prove invaluable, and singled out Harry Brook's captaincy for special praise, calling him one of the best tactical captains he has come across. Speaking to Sky Sports, McCullum said: "It was a very satisfying performance today. We were put under pressure again. We've talked extensively leading into this tri-series about wanting to get experience in some of our guys, because whilst we've got some talent, we haven't got a super experienced one-day side. We were probably behind the game, to be honest, when they were five-down, but Brooky was able to slow it down, make some plays, and obviously we were able to get the wickets we needed. He would have grown enormously. I can't talk highly enough of his captaincy, not just his tactics, but also his leadership." England went into the final ten overs of their farewell fixture in serious danger of a fourth defeat on the bounce and a third in a row from what had looked an impregnable position. Ben Duckett's 167 had set Sri Lanka an imposing 387 for victory, but Pavan Rathnayake — the hero of Sri Lanka's 430-run chase in Rawalpindi the previous week — had again put his side firmly on track at 300 for five after 40 overs. This time England found the breakthroughs that had eluded them at the death in their agonising recent losses, most notably through left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, who finished with 4 for 49 from ten overs. McCullum stressed that Brook deserved credit not merely for tactics but for the manner in which he led: "I think he's one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across. He's got such an astute brain. He wears his intelligence lightly externally, but he's a very, very switched-on man and a very switched-on cricketer. And he's got the respect of the entire dressing room. He leads them. They follow him. He's interactive with his leadership. It's not just him out there on his own. He does call upon many other people as well. He will have learned a lot from getting thrust into a situation like this, where the game is travelling at breakneck speed, and you're having to make decisions which can win or lose a game." He added: "So, for us to have been put in some situations where we've been exposed at times, but also have succeeded at other times, and we've seen lots of different guys stand up and perform, and a few others who've got some great lessons learned from this trip. I think it's going to hold us in good stead moving forward." McCullum acknowledged England were "gutted" not to have been in with a chance of reaching the tri-series final, with Sri Lanka's win over Pakistan on Monday having ended any mathematical chance. With the team set to move on to Australia later this week for a warm-up match against Western Australia and then three further ODIs, he insisted they remain on track for the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, which begins this time next year. "We'll sit back and assess what we got right, and what we didn't quite get right, and how we can keep getting better," McCullum said. "We want to be a team that can challenge seriously for that World Cup in 12 months' time, and we know we need to get better, but we will, and I'm sure we'll learn from these lessons. This experience has been very good for us, albeit it has been disappointing in terms of not making the final." Despite the overall shortcomings, there were several individual performances to savour: Brook's career-best 202 against Sri Lanka, Duckett's back-to-back hundreds in the final two games, and Tom Banton's trio of fifties at the top of the order. Dawson's seven wickets at 21.42 were notable too, not least because he was chosen ahead of England's senior spinner, Adil Rashid, who was omitted for the final three games. "Liam Dawson has done really well for us out here," McCullum said, adding that left-arm spin had been a consistent threat across the tournament, in particular from Pakistan's Arafat Minhas, who tops the averages with nine wickets at 16.11. "If you look at all three teams, legspin hasn't really played too much of a role, and we want to be a team that can adapt to different conditions, and be quite malleable with our selections. Dawson's an experienced and highly competitive player who has put his hand up here, and unfortunately for Rash on this occasion, the conditions probably went against him." The Australia leg now becomes the decisive test of whether England can repair their death bowling and middle-order stability in time for the World Cup cycle. Lahore offered evidence of character; the coming weeks must offer evidence of execution.