England Test captain Ben Stokes has hailed new coach Brendon McCullum, saying the former New Zealand captain was already making England’s players “feel 10 feet tall” ahead of the first Test against the coach’s native team at Lord’s.
“I’ve said to the guys who are in now: you’ve got the backing,” Stokes told a pre-match news conference at Lord’s on Wednesday.
“This is our time and we are going to dictate how things go forward…I just want everyone to feel free under my captaincy. It’s been a good few days working with Brendon. He is all about making everyone feel, in his own words, ’10 feet tall’. I’m actually not nervous — I am just very excited to get going.”
Stokes added his voice to that of former England captain Michael Vaughan, who has criticized the price of tickets at Lord’s with more than 16,000 still unsold for the five days.
“The ticket prices are something that I think is going to have to be looked at,” he said.
“What is cricket without its fans? What is a sport without its fans? I don’t set the ticket prices but I think it does need to be looked at.”
