Brendon McCullum asks England to improve ‘humility’ before Zimbabwe Test

Allied to the inconsistent results are the perception of the England team and some of the comments they make in the media.

During the Champions Trophy they were criticised for not training enough by former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who pointed to their love of golf.

Wood said he was irritated by an external narrative of “golf, golf, golf”, while Stokes said the idea their training is affected by too much golf is “utter rubbish”.

Any disconnect between England and some sections of their fans could also have been fuelled by comments in the media. Batters Ben Duckett and Harry Brook have most often been guilty of clumsy quotes.

McCullum has therefore aligned with Key’s view that the players need to take greater care with their public comments. Individual conversations between management and players have taken place, rather than collective instructions given to the group.

“We’ve just got to be a bit smarter with some of our comments,” said McCullum. “What we say in that dressing room is often very different to what you expect to come out in a public forum.

“We’ve got we just got to be aware of that, smart enough to be able to make sure that we articulate things when we get the opportunity so that we don’t we don’t lose touch with the English people.

“We want them along for the ride, particularly in the next few series, which could be quite amazing. We want people to look back and say, ‘Crikey, that team in the mid-2020s was a hell of a team that we loved following, and we felt as if we were a part of that journey they went on.'”