Brendon McCullum has defended missing the start of the English summer and insists his England team still have their best years ahead of them.The England coach arrived back in the country from his native New Zealand around as scheduled a week ago and resumed work with the Test team at the weekend for the first time since the Ashes ended with a crushing 4-1 defeat by Australia in January.He has attracted criticism, notably from former England captain Michael Vaughan, for not coming back earlier from his break to at least watch some of the six rounds of County Championship matches already staged this season after surviving an ECB review into the Ashes debacle.But McCullum, in an interview controlled and put out by the ECB on Wednesday, said he was happy to resist calls to return and was “across most of what happened” in the Championship courtesy of ECB data and technology and an extensive scouting system. The 44-year-old is still due to sit down with the broadcast and written media on Friday.“I’ve been able to have a little break after what was quite a demanding time,” said McCullum at Loughborough University, where England are in a training camp preparing for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s next week.“I’m very lucky that, when Keysey (England managing director Rob Key) offered me the full-time role with the white-ball teams as well as the Test one, he was very mindful of the fact there would be a lot of demands with the schedule and that I had a young family. There would be times when I needed to be at home.“I’ve been on the road for 25 years so I’m not unaccustomed to the demands of touring, but it is important at times to take your breaks, refresh a bit and get ready for an exciting summer ahead.“I watched quite a lot of the County Championship. The way it is these days there’s a huge system behind the England’s men side that feeds information into us. It is almost impossible to be at every game now when you’re on the road for 10 months a year. I’ve been across most of the matches and I’ve seen a huge amount of talent in the English game.”McCullum also said there was a medical reason for his break, which has stretched since England were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup by India in early March.“I’m not after pity but there were a couple of operations I had to have back home which have been booked in for a long time, so it’s nice to tidy that up,” he explained.McCullum was insistent that his ‘Bazball’ style of play, which brought such success in his first couple of years in charge but fell badly flat in Australia, could evolve when England face the twin Test challenges of New Zealand and Pakistan this summer.“You will see a lot of the stuff you’ve seen already, but with a bit of refinement,” he said. “Positive and smart cricket can live together. We will try to step towards that.“We will be brave when we need to be and smart when we need to be. We’ll be totally committed and try to identify moments where games can be won or lost. If we can do that successfully we’ll give ourselves a great chance.“I’d like to see us become a team not only feared for our knockout punch but our jab too. If we can box smart we can achieve success and we’re all fiercely driven to do that.“There’s some finessing and up-skilling to do, and maybe a firmer grip on things rather than expecting guys to work it out for themselves. We’ve had some good and bad times but I firmly believe the best years are still ahead of us and I’m delighted to still be at the helm for that.”Brendon McCullum will resume his partnership with England captain Ben Stokes (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)And McCullum intends to achieve those best years and finally win a ‘big’ series alongside England captain Ben Stokes. The pair, he insists, are still very much aligned.“Stokesey and I have always got on well,” added the coach. “We challenge each other which is what you want and there will always be differences of opinion. That’s healthy.“The best leaders bounce off each other, but we’re crystal clear on the direction we want this team to take and you’ll continue to see us work together.“We’re absolutely fine and we’ve got each other’s backs. There have been no clear the air talks because there’s no air to clear. We were all disappointed about the winter but all the talks have been about how to move forward and put that right.”May 27, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms