English white-ball coach Brendon McCullum reportedly on the shortlist

Gary Kirsten is in the running to be named England’s Test coach.

After the axing of Chris Silverwood for England’s lackluster performances in red-ball cricket in the last 12 months, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has taken a huge call as far as the selection of the primary coaching team is concerned. With India’s 2011 World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten apparently chosen as their next Test coach, they have also discovered an appropriate candidate for the limited-overs setup.

Brendon McCullum, one of New Zealand’s greatest batters and most strategic captains, is the front-runner for the job. According to reports in the Daily Mail, McCullum has been “added to their wishlist” and is the leading prospect to take up the new post for the defending ODI world champions.

Meanwhile, England’s new Managing Director of Men’s cricket Robert Key has claimed that he will keep the national cricket team’s white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan in the loop for all the appointments and other decisions.

Brendon McCullum frontrunner

I’d talk to Eoin about this: Robert Key

When it comes to white-ball cricket, “Eoin is someone I would speak to about so many different topics,” remarked Key, as quoted by The Mirror. When it comes to finding someone to train him, “he knows exactly who to contact” and is well-connected in the industry, according to the coach.

Brendon McCullum, like Kirsten, has a tremendous of coaching expertise under his belt. A former head coach of the Trinbago Knight Riders, he is presently in his second IPL season as coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Apart from that, he also has one of the sharpest cricketing brains which assisted him in revamping New Zealand cricket completely once he was handed over the captaincy reins in 2012. The 2015 World Cup, which New Zealand and Australia co-hosted, saw the Black Caps reach their first World Cup final under coach Steve Hansen. Unfortunately for New Zealand, they could not overcome the last hurdle as they went down to Michael Clarke’s Aussies in a one-sided contest.