England’s risk-taking future relies on McCullum handling unruly Test machine

It was an accomplished first outing for Brendon McCullum, the new England Test head coach. Decked out in an official training top, skinny trousers and white trainers (no socks, naturally), a little bleary-eyed after the 12,000-mile journey from Dunedin, the former New Zealand captain rocked up at sunny Lord’s on Friday morning looking as relaxed as the team environment he intends to create.

Over the course of an hour speaking to various outlets – including a couple of European correspondents from back home – the 40-year-old espoused the philosophy which attracted Rob Key, director of men’s cricket, to hire a head coach with only white-ball experience on the CV: to be consistent in messaging, to keep things simple, to help players realise their potential and be role models, to cut out external noise, to be unafraid to take a risk if the upside demands it, to whip away the fear of failure he believes is inherent in the English game.

There was an insistence that he is not a technical coach, with man management more his domain. (Vibes, eh? Perhaps his nickname should be Bez, not Baz). The partnership with Ben Stokes, another streetfighter from New Zealand’s south island, will be about sweeping up all the peripheral problems to ensure the all-rounder is “the most authentic version of himself”. “There may be times I have to pull him back and times when I might have to push him forward,” McCullum added, citing a similar arrangement with Mike Hesson that brought New Zealand much success back in the day.

After a year of rest and rotation, conflicting priorities and a heavy slab of overthink, McCullum also wants to get the Test team back to playing the match in front of them. “My job will be to plan as if you’ll live forever, but