Google News England coach before the match with Pakistan: We understand the size of the challenge
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England head coach Brendon McCullum spoke about his impressions after arriving in Islamabad and the first test match. His team seems ready. "We've got a couple of days before the Test, so... But it's nice to be here," he said, as quoted by cricbuzz.com.
"We had a great camp at Abu Dhabi, spent a lot of time as a team, sort of trying to build that camaraderie after a little bit of a break which we identified during the English summer and that's an important component of how this team is going to operate." McCullum expects his team to show their best.
There is a great atmosphere in the team.
"We'll certainly be pushing for results because we see it as our obligation to try and ensure that people walk away entertained. And if we get beat, Pakistan, we know, will have played well.
I expect us to play well and if we get outplayed, that's okay too. Looking forward to the opportunity, looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to the hospitality. And hopefully, in a few weeks' time, everyone will say this has been an amazing series."
Atmosphere
They expect a great atmosphere, and it will be their only motivation to excel.
"The boys have already said they're pretty excited about playing in front of a full house here, it's going to be a good atmosphere, so they're really excited," he said. "That's what we want from red-ball cricket all around the world, stadiums packed out and fans getting behind their local team.
"To have that on the road is the greatest compliment... we're lucky that the crowd here is sold out and that's kind of what we want. The skipper wants them to be rockstars and to be a rockstar you've got to play in front of the big houses.
We've got that opportunity to do that." The team is aware that a tough challenge is waiting for them. Such challenges can be the most tempting. "To win away from home is the greatest accomplishment you can achieve as a Test player and as a Test side," he said.
"We understand the size of the challenge in front of us. But that's great - that's why you want to play the game. You don't want easy challenges, you want to take on the best in their own conditions and you want to try and test where you're at as a side.
I'm really excited. I don't know if we're going to win the series. I can almost guarantee when the skipper comes in here in 48 hours time he'll say there'll be no draws in the series."
