Black Caps lack swagger, says Baz

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum believes New Zealand ‘lack the swagger’ that champions have and believes they should bin humility in exchange for a ruthless streak.

The Kiwis today take on England, who came into the World Cup as the top-ranked ODI side. However, after surprising losses to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia, there were lot of questions raised over their approach. Morgan’s men, however, bounced back in brilliant style and defeated India to keep themselves in the race.

“New Zealand are close to where they need to be but they’re playing with a sense of humility when they need to rediscover their panache. They’re lacking a bit of swagger. There’s plenty of people in that line-up capable of playing with swagger.

“They need to include (quick bowler) Tim Southee, who is a big player from a leadership point of view, and someone who brings confidence to the environment. I would love to see that come out, for them to take on games a little more than they have been. The other day, for instance, they allowed Australia’s fast bowlers to bowl short at them. We didn’t see anyone really take it on.

“When they had Australia 92 for five, they could maybe have gone back to Trent Boult, our main strike weapon. If they’re serious about going deep in this tournament, they need to free themselves up and England could be the perfect opposition for that to happen. It may just remind them how they play their best cricket, because they will be faced with a team with an expressive gameplan.

But they will also have to keep in mind Black Caps pacer Trent Boult, who is coming into the game off the back of a hattrick against Australia. PHOTO: AFP/REUTERS

“England and New Zealand are similar teams. There are different pockets of power in both and it’s about how you use that power — whether, when you have the game in the grasp of your hand, you are able to reinforce it.

“If you go through the personnel, the more aggressive style suits both. There are a couple of players — Joe Root and Kane Williamson — who lock in to allow the aggression of other guys to come out, but they are also at their best when they have freewheeling players around them.”

McCullum is a Kiwi by heart but he won’t mind if England manage to topple them.

“I am really excited for this match. I will be barracking for New Zealand but if they play at top-class and England are good enough to stand up to them and perform, then I’ll be OK with that too.”