The Japan Times - McCullum urges England to show 'humility' after rocky spell

McCullum's team host Zimbabwe in a four-day Test starting at Trent Bridge on Thursday before a blockbuster five-match series with India and an Ashes showdown in Australia.

But McCullum's men go into a fascinating year of Test cricket struggling to find their peak form and battling to fix an image problem of their own making.

Although England won the Test series in New Zealand 2-1 over the winter, they lost by the same scoreline in Pakistan and endured a wretched time in white-ball action.

Comments made by England players in the media have also come under scrutiny.

England director of cricket Rob Key said the players needed to "stop talking rubbish" after a disappointing exit from the Champions Trophy earlier this year.

Last month, injured England fast bowler Mark Wood admitted they can be "a bit dumb".

McCullum has taken note of the jibes and wants his team to ditch the brash statements.

"We want the English fans to feel as if they're a part of this journey with us as a team. There's some things we need to do to make sure we bring everyone along for the ride," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"If we look at it, there are some ways we've probably let opportunities slip, some ways we've maybe not been as smart as what we possibly could with our comments in the media."

During the Champions Trophy, England were criticised for not training enough by former captain Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen also claimed England were more focused on their love of golf after comments by batsmen Ben Duckett and Harry Brook.

- 'It's the ability to be humble' -

McCullum called on England's players to learn from their public relations mistakes and forge a new bond with supporters over the coming months.

"There's going to be mistakes made and there's going to be periods where guys say things they don't quite mean or can be misconstrued in a different way," he said.

"It's not just about what you do on the cricket field. It's how you carry yourself. It's how you interact with the public.

"It's the ability to be humble and show some humility and not feel out of reach or out of touch with the general population. That's something that I'd like to see us improve on."

England are firm favourites to beat a Zimbabwe side with just one Test win in the last four years.

The challenges posed by India and Australia will be much sterner.

But McCullum knows defeating perennial superpower India and regaining the Ashes in Australia would cement a legacy for himself and the players.

"To get to where we are, number two in the world, is good and everyone's happy about that. But at the same time, there's a lot of meat on the bone for us," McCullum said.

"When we took on a project like this, it was not about necessarily settling on 'good'.

"I think now is the time, working from a strong base, to be able to sort of shoot for the stars and say where can we take this team? What can we achieve?"

T.Ikeda--JT