Brendon McCullum: Can new coach change English cricket again?

The English cricket has changed once before. He is being paid to do it again.

It was a mistake. His batting, captaincy and the New Zealand team he led to the final of the 2015 World Cup formed the inspiration for England's transformation from one-day no-hopers to world champions in four years.

The task of reviving a Test side that have been battered and bruised to the tune of one win in 17 matches will come from inside the dressing room.

His appointment made England trendy again. The excitement of what a McCullum-led outfit might actually play like against his native New Zealand on Thursday, but also because he is the first coach to turn up at Lord's with rolled-up jeans revealing bare ankles and no socks.

The 40-year-old has given up a good life in order to answer England's call, following coaching jobs in the Indian and Caribbean Premier Leagues, TV punditry and a breakfast radio show back home in New Zealand.

It was the possibility of doing something similar with the Test team that attracted him to the idea.

He said that it was half the reason he took the job.

The player should remember the maniac sprinting down the pitch to the world's fastest bowlers, carving the ball over extra cover for six.

He was a cavalier presence at the top of the order in limited-overs cricket, but he was also one of the most innovative captains of the modern era and the owner of a triple century.

He united a New Zealand team, despite the controversy of the way he assumed the captaincy from Ross Taylor, setting the Black Caps on the way to becoming world Test champions last year.

Tom Latham said they are still benefiting from the influence of McCullum even though he has not played for them in a while.

New Zealand won matches in a way that allowed their cricket to talk. There were no egos, no arrogance, and no sledging. It was an approach that was still effective.

Brad Haddin once said that they were that nice to them.

The spirit of the game is something that will impress England.

He said last week that he doesn't see the need to play in any other way. You still play hard on the field, but there are certain lines you don't need to cross.

The nice guy attitude of the new England captain, Ben Stokes, and the task of finding an identity for the team, will be done by the new captain and his deputy.

Under the previous regime, coach Chris Silverwood and captain Joe Root talked of scoring big first-innings runs as if they had just invented fire.

For all his qualities as a batter and an even better human being, Root too often took leave of his tactical senses, something Stokes should be able to avoid with McCullum's 31 Tests as a captain in his corner.

It is not rocket science to shift pressure with the bat. It is not an overly extravagant gameplan and it has some nice simplicity to it.

Those who know him say he is a modest and humble man who has talked about removing pressure from the players.

He said it was allowing the guys to make good decisions because they were in a positive environment.

He has used that philosophy away from the dressing room.

The Black Caps would go to the top of the world rankings with a victory, according to information given to the commentator by an inexperienced statistician.

The Stats guy realized his mistake when he heard the ascent on the microphone.

He simply said "Don't worry about it mate, I was the one behind the mic", and opened a beer.

Much has been made of the fact that McCullum has never coached a first-class team. Andy Flower, the coach who took England to number one in the world, had never previously been a head coach in first-class cricket.

England once again looked overseas for their Test coach after appointing a New Zealander. Peter Moores and Silverwood were the only Englishmen to do the job. They are the only England coaches to have failed in that time.

The urn and the World Cup were won by Australian Trevor Bayliss.

If you are from overseas, you can bring that simplified method in, rather than if you are English, which is probably a little bit more involved in the whole thing.

Maybe it is a coincidence, but we will find out. I may be terrible.

It is certain that for the first time, England have a coach with a higher profile than the majority of the players.

Flower had a successful playing career, but none of them had the star quality of McCullum. Silverwood gave nothing away in the media and would not have been seen buying a pair of pyjamas in Marks & Spencer.

That does little to aid the chances of succeeding, but at least he will be working with players who are likely to respect him as a formidable former opponent or who grew up watching him perform.

If there are some people who don't think that McCullum is the right person to lead the Test side, most will agree that his arrival adds a lot of intrigue to watching England.

He said that his skills are around taking a team from a bit of trouble into a team that has long-term sustainable success.

You are not always going to get it. It has to be a pretty big challenge if you are going to change your life for the better.

Can he change English cricket again?