New Zealand will continue playing aggressive cricket: McCullum

Melbourne, March 29 (IANS) Despite their bruising loss to Australia in the cricket World Cup final on Sunday, New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has said his team will not back off from playing aggressive cricket as there is an element of fearlessness in their style.

Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets with 101 balls to spare to clinch the World Cup title for the fifth time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here.

"No, no, we won't change our style of play. Look, for us to develop into the team that we want to be in international cricket, we have to play like that. I think there's an element of fearlessness about how we play," McCullum said when asked if the Cup loss would restrict the team from playing aggressive cricket.

"We've loved every single minute of it. We've created memories and friendships which will last for the rest of our lives. We've had some support from our country which we never believed was possible. We're incredibly proud of what we've been able to achieve," he said.

The 33-year-old said that he is proud the way his boys have played throughout the tournament but in the final Australia were deserving winners.

"I thought the way that we played throughout this tournament, the brand of cricket that we've played, the way we've entertained people and I guess left nothing out there in terms of the character and attitude on the field.

I think it's been one hell of a ride and something that we'll remember for the rest of our lives," the skipper said.

"Australia played better. It came down to one game. Australia stepped up and they were too good for us on the night. Look, it's a credit to them that they were able to do so on a big occasion."

The runners-up skipper heaped praise on the outgoing Australian captain Michael Clarke for his outstanding contribution in the shorter format.

"Clarke has been an outstanding cricketer for Australia. I think his captaincy has been brilliant throughout his tenure. He deserves to bow out a World Cup winner,” McCullum said.

McCullum said that it was a good toss to win but they failed to take advantage of that.

"I thought it was a good toss to win at the time. Clarke also said that he would have batted. The pitch played okay, and I think that was a testament to the partnership we were able to create with Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott. I guess they were able to swing the ball early on, and that posed a few problems," the right-handed batsman said.

The New Zealand skipper also highly praised the consistent performance of Man-of-the-Tournament Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.