Despite England being unable to reach the final of the ODI tri-series in Pakistan, head coach Brendon McCullum is of the view that England can take valuable lessons from their difficult campaign and overcome those issues in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup next year.
McCullum was buoyed by the team's resolve to finish the series on a positive note, highlighting the impactful role of Harry Brook's leadership and other players' contributions. Notably, England ended their campaign with a hard-fought 55-run victory over Sri Lanka in Lahore on Thursday.
"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 told Sky Sports.
"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. And this experience has been very good for us."
Defending a total of 386, England bowled Sri Lanka out for 331, with Liam Dawson and Sonny Baker returning with four and two wickets, respectively. Earlier, Ben Duckett slammed a powerful knock of 167 to power the side to a big total.
"It was a very satisfying performance today," McCullum said.
"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 whilst we've got some talent, we haven't got a super experienced one-day side.“
McCullum also lauded Harry Brook for his amazing leadership that has spread a sense of positivity among players.
"I think he's one of the best tactical captains I've ever come across," McCullum said.
"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 switched-on cricketer. And he's got the respect of the entire dressing room.”
"He leads them. They follow him. He's interactive with his leadership. It's not just him out there on his own. He does call upon many other people as well. He will have learned a lot from getting thrust into a situation like this, where the game is travelling at breakneck speed, and you're having to make decisions which can win or lose a game.”