The relationship of people born in the smaller countries in the UK to their national identity is very different to people who are born in England. The size of England dominates the other countries and particularly in sport it’s a chance for people from those smaller countries to assert their identity in a way the English don’t feel the need to do. It’s much more common as well for people born in England who have parents born in other countries (including those in the UK) to identify with their parents country of origin when it comes to sporting events. It doesn’t really matter that much though has been made to matter a lot more in these days of expression of petty nationalism.
Incidentally, I doubt very much whether Brendan McCullum has ever sang the national anthem and nobody sings it (or any other) at international cricket matches anyway, where Jerusalem is played to
mass indifference. I’m very glad he’s England’s cricket coach.
