England v New Zealand: start of a new era in English cricket under Stokes and McCullum

The world champions of Test cricket will return to the site of a recent glory when New Zealand face England in the first Test of the UK summer, starting at Lord's on Thursday.

It might all feel a little bit weird for the touring side this time around, though, a year to the day since the sides last met at the same venue.

One of their all-time greats is no longer part of their set up, while another will be sat on the opposition balcony trying to plot their downfall.

And, for all the gravitas having Test cricket’s first official world champs in town, all of the intrigue really centres on their hosts instead.

The corridors of power within English cricket have had not so much a clear out as an industrial deep clean, and the Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key era starts here.

They are respectively the new captain, coach and managing director and – given the profile of each – optimism abounds.

Whether or not each can bring about meaningful change straight away remains to be seen. In truth, there is likely to be the odd blowout along the way.

But one thing is for sure: it will be fun watching them attempt to right the listing ship that is English Test cricket.

“There has been plenty of talk about this word ‘reset’, which is not something I particularly like,” Stokes said.

“I just see this as a complete and utter blank canvas for this Test team going forward.”

Lords not being full this week is embarrassing for the game .. Try & blame the Jubilee if they want but I guarantee if tickets weren’t £100 - £160 it would be jam packed !!! Why are they so expensive ??? #Lords #ENGvNZ

Stokes and McCullum in harness should be box office, right? Two of the most pyrotechnic cricketers in history in company as a captain/coach dynamic duo