England head coach Brendon McCullum has admitted that the airport altercation between team security and a cameraman was far from ideal, but he maintained that his side have handled the intense scrutiny of the Ashes tour well. Australian all-rounder Cameron Green also expressed some sympathy for the tourists, while McCullum stressed that the England squad had embraced the banter during their time in Australia.
The incident occurred on Saturday, December 13, at Brisbane Airport, when a member of England’s
security staff made contact with a Seven Network cameraman in an attempt to prevent filming. According to Cricket Australia (CA) media guidelines, teams are not available for interviews while in transit, although filming is permitted from a respectful distance.
England captain Ben Stokes was also displeased with an Adelaide-based journalist who breached those protocols, expressing frustration at being recorded from close range. Since arriving in Australia, the England team have been under relentless scrutiny, often becoming the subject of mockery as they fell 2-0 behind in the Ashes series, with their aggressive brand of cricket failing to deliver the desired results.
"I didn't see [the airport incident], but obviously it wasn't ideal. But hopefully it's been dealt with and everyone's able to move on. Obviously, we know coming to Australia, there's a lot of eyeballs, there's a lot of intensity and scrutiny on everything we do. I feel like we've managed ourselves pretty well throughout this tour,” said McCullum as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“I thought the boys were outstanding. The last week we've had, they're engaging with a lot of the locals and everyone was in good spirits. There was some good banter flying both ways and I think everyone treated it [well] and respected it,” he added.
The former New Zealand captain also defended England’s decision to travel to Noosa, explaining that the trip had been booked well in advance due to the gap between the Perth and Adelaide Tests. McCullum’s comments came as Green admitted he felt sympathy for the tourists, revealing that he too had struggled to adjust to the intense spotlight placed on players.
"It was quite an important period. We could give ourselves a chance to allow some of the lessons we've learnt over the last couple of weeks to settle and to recalibrate a little bit. I think now the freshness which we come into this Test match with will hopefully pay off,” said McCullum.
"You never like getting filmed, especially when you want to get away from it. There's always sympathy for anyone in life that's getting filmed in public or in a private space. It's never a nice feeling,” said Green.
