Lessons from Defeat, Belief from Victory: McCullum Hails Brook's Captaincy and Dawson's Bowling

Lahore: England did not leave Pakistan with a trophy or a place in the tri-series final, but head coach Brendon McCullum believes the chastening lessons his young side absorbed during the tournament will make them stronger in the long run. England closed out their campaign with a hard-fought consolation win over Sri Lanka in Lahore, and McCullum took more satisfaction from the character shown than from the result itself. Going into the final ten overs of that farewell fixture, England had looked in serious danger of a fourth defeat on the bounce and a third in a row from a seemingly impregnable position. Ben Duckett's 167 had set an imposing target of 387, but Pavan Rathnayake - the hero of Sri Lanka's 430-run chase in Rawalpindi the previous week - had once again put his side firmly on track at 300 for 5 after 40 overs. This time, however, England found the breakthroughs that had eluded them at the death in their agonising recent losses, most notably through Liam Dawson, who finished with 4 for 49 in ten overs and turned the contest on its head. Afterwards McCullum took satisfaction in the character his team had shown after such a string of setbacks. "It was a very satisfying performance today," McCullum told Sky Sports. "We were put under pressure again. We've talked extensively leading into this tri-series about wanting to get experience in some of our guys, because while we've got some talent, we haven't got a super-experienced one-day side." He admitted candidly that England were behind the game when Sri Lanka were five down. "We were probably behind the game, to be honest, when they were five-down, but Brooky was able to slow it down, make some plays, and obviously we were able to get the wickets we needed. He would have grown enormously from that. I can't talk highly enough of his captaincy - not just his tactics, but also his leadership." McCullum added, "I think he's one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across. He's got such an astute brain. He wears his intelligence lightly externally, but he's a very, very switched-on man and a very, very switched-on cricketer. And he's got the respect of the entire dressing room." "He leads them and they follow him. His leadership is interactive. It's not just him out there on his own; he calls upon many other people as well. He will have learned a lot from being thrust into a situation like this, where the game is travelling at breakneck speed and you're having to make decisions that can win or lose a game." He continued, "For us to have been put in situations where we've been exposed at times, but also have succeeded at other times, and to have seen lots of different guys stand up and perform - and a few others who've got some great lessons learned from this trip - I think it's going to hold us in good stead moving forward." England were denied even a mathematical chance of reaching the final when Sri Lanka beat Pakistan on Monday. McCullum acknowledged the side were "gutted", but insisted they remain on track for the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, which begins this time next year. The team moves on to Australia later this week for a warm-up match against Western Australia followed by three ODIs. "We'll sit back and assess what we got right and what we didn't quite get right, and how we can keep getting better," McCullum said. "We want to be a team that can challenge seriously for that World Cup in 12 months' time, and we know we need to get better, but we will, and I'm sure we'll learn from these lessons. This experience has been very good for us, albeit it has been disappointing in terms of not making the final." Despite the overall shortcomings, there were individual performances for England to savour. Brook struck a career-best 202 against Sri Lanka, Duckett made back-to-back hundreds in the final two games, and Tom Banton compiled three fifties at the top of the order. Dawson's seven wickets at 21.42 were notable too, not least because he was chosen ahead of England's senior spinner, Adil Rashid, who was omitted for the final three games. "Liam Dawson has done really well for us out here," McCullum said, pointing out that left-arm spin had been a consistent threat across the tournament - Pakistan's Arafat Minhas tops the averages with nine wickets at 16.11. "If you look at all three teams, legspin hasn't really played too much of a role, and we want to be a team that can adapt to different conditions and be quite malleable with our selections," McCullum said. "Dawson's an experienced and highly competitive player who has put his hand up here, and unfortunately for Rash on this occasion, the conditions probably went against him." Ultimately, the Lahore win is worth more to England than two points. After three defeats in a row, a victory under pressure was essential for the morale of a young side, and for McCullum it is proof that his faith in the right people is justified. The question now is how much of that learning survives the pace and bounce of Australian pitches on the road to the World Cup.