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McCullum sympathy for England

Trust has been one of the buzzwords around English cricket since Andrew Strauss uttered it when explaining - or trying to, at least - his decision to tell Kevin Pietersen he would not be selected this summer. From many of those desperate for a reason for the continued exile it was not a phrase that went down very well, but in Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, there is a man seemingly of a similar mindset when it comes to values.
McCullum was very conscious not to be drawn into the Pietersen debate, but was happy to expand on his and New Zealand's team philosophy, which has underpinned their rise up the Test rankings to No. 3. It has been a climb engineered by McCullum and Mike Hesson who came together during a fractious change of leadership in late 2012.

McCullum sympathy for England
Although they have not had a situation exactly like that of Pietersen, they had to deal with a disenfranchised Ross Taylor - the man who McCullum replaced as captain - and took the call to abort attempts to find a space for Jesse Ryder at the World Cup.
"The way we run a cricket team may not work in other cultures," he said. "In New Zealand we are small and have the ability to be dynamic, be innovative but you need buy-in to be able to do that. That's a lot easier to do when you are a small country and have a small nucleus of players. That's the way we have tried to build our group, there is a lot of trust in that. Guys trust you are leading them in the right direction, but that might not work in different environments. We know that's the best way for us."
Neither was McCullum willing to take the bait over whether this was in ideal time to be playing England with the pressure surrounding Alastair Cook and Paul Farbrace in temporary charge. In fact, there was a feeling approaching empathy from McCullum, who still has fresh memories of the chaos that surrounded his side not too long ago.
"Every team has its challenges, we've had ours that I've alluded to. The way we skin the cat is that we need everyone having total buy-in to the team environment. Every environment is different and without being among the England team it's very hard to make an informed decision on KP and the relationships within the group. It would be foolish of me to make outlandish statements.
"They are obviously going through some challenges, we've been there as well and understand what every team has to go through, but they are still stacked full of world-class players. In their own conditions they will be a tough proposition and we are by no means thinking we have got them. We know we'll have to play extremely good cricket."
New Zealand's recent record suggests they are capable of that level of cricket. Last year was their most successful in Tests, with five victories, and they have elevated themselves from seventh in the world rankings. However, despite fewer resources than some nations, McCullum remains far from satisfied.
"We've made some significant changes and are starting to play some really good cricket, but are only No. 3. Yes, we started down the order but there are still improvements to make," he said.
"You want to get to the top, and when you get there you want to stay there and when you stay there you want to push the game forward. That's the motivation we've got, but it will take a lot of hard work. This will be a tough challenge, but if we can perform here then we take another stride in the right direction."
"We also play the game with a level of respect that a couple of years ago we perhaps didn't have and I think that's one of the proudest things. We've seen guys become good cricketers but good people as well. As a captain, I'm pretty proud of that."
For McCullum and Cook two years has been a very long time. Perhaps, if the chance arises, they can share a chat over beer. They would have a few tales to tell.

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