'Aim To Make England No. 1 Test Team': Brendon McCullum expresses his ambitions with England

Brendon McCullum, England's recently appointed head coach for red-ball cricket, spoke to the press about his ambitions and what he aims to achieve with England. McCullum expressed that he aims to make England the number one Test side in the world.

England is currently placed 6th on the Test rankings and is having a nightmare of a run in the longest format of the game. They have won just a single match out of their last 17 tests. Following a 4-0 whitewash in the recent Ashes series. Ex-coach Chris Silverwood resigned under obvious circumstances, and after that, captain Joe Root stepped down from captaincy.

Ben Stokes was announced as the successor of Root, while McCullum was picked as the head coach. He faces his first challenge against his native team New Zealand in a 3-Test match home series.

Speaking about the new era for English cricket, McCullum spoke about Stokes while answering the reporters on Friday. He said, "I think with Stokesy as captain we've got a really strong leader."

The former Black Caps skipper further discussed his coaching style and shared his opinions on Test cricket. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, "I think for me red-ball cricket has always been the pinnacle of the sport."

Commenting on his coaching style, he said that he doesn't coach technically. "I understand the technique obviously but for me, it's more around tactics and man-management and trying to provide the right environment for the team to try and go out there and be the best versions of themselves," he added. 

'Baz' reaffirmed his aim to take England back to the number one spot in Test rankings and admitted that it's not something that will happen overnight. 

The English team is currently practising at full force at the St. George Stadium and will be facing New Zealand on 2nd June for the first match at Lord's.

However, McCullum was seen asking for support from the fans to uplift the morale of red-ball cricket in England. "If you look at where the game sits currently, it's probably on a bit of a downward trend and to be the nation that can really change that is England — because of the tradition of Test cricket here in England and I guess the fan following and the support that it gets in this country," McCullum concluded.