By Hugh Lawson
LONDON (Reuters) – England coach Brendon McCullum said he was more than happy to share a beer with the Australia squad now that the Ashes series is over, having suggested after the second test that he wouldn’t do so following a controversial incident.
The series ended 2-2 after England won the final test at The Oval by 49 runs on Monday, so Australia retained the Ashes urn.
“Yeah, we’ll have a beer,” McCullum said with a laugh when asked by reporters about his previous comments.
In the second test at Lord’s, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey dismissed Jonny Bairstow by underarming the ball at the stumps after Bairstow left his crease at the end of an over.
The stumping dismissal triggered loud booing from the Lord’s crowd and Australian players were verbally abused by MCC members in the pavilion.
“I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon,” McCullum told the BBC after the incident. “You’ve got to live with the decisions you make.”
He said on Monday, however, that his comments had been misinterpreted.
“If we look back to after that test match I don’t necessarily think what I said was construed in the right way,” he said.
“What I was saying was I’ve made mistakes in the past, and there’s times when you look back on some decisions with regret and I put my hand up to say that. I guess that’s what I was challenging. That’s the grey area around the spirit of cricket.”
He added that the incident would still be one the series will be remembered for.
“Ashes series have all these twists and turns and moments which people talk about and are able to remember them by, and that was certainly one of those,” he said.
But he insisted it was not something that would sour his relations with the Australian camp, particularly their captain Pat Cummins.
“I’ve had the pleasure of being able to coach Pat over in the IPL (in India). He’s an absolute champion fella, and I consider him one of my mates,” McCullum said.
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson, editing by Ed Osmond)
