England’s Test head coach role bittersweet: Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum has described his appointment as England's new Test head coach as bittersweet. The former New Zealand skipper will take over the reins from Chris Silverwood, who had a disastrous run with the Three Lions, winning just 1 out of their last 17 Tests.

The 40-year-old will take on a red-ball assignment for the first time, having coached franchises like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), and Lahore Qalandars (LQ) in the past.

Speaking to SENZ radio, McCullum has this to say, "Really excited, but also some bittersweet stuff in regards to having to turn the page on a couple of things. In life, I think, if you're going to change what you're doing, then make sure it's worth the risk of doing so, and this is a big enough challenge to risk that, that's for sure,"

The swashbuckling batsman's first assignment as coach will be against New Zealand in a three-Test series in June.

Speaking on going up against New Zealand, he said, "Obviously, New Zealand is what I was able to be part of for so long, and I'm incredibly passionate about what we built,"

A veteran of 101 Tests, McCullum described why he took on the role of coaching England.

"For me, Test cricket is on a downward trend, in regards to popularity and where it sits. Whilst I was lucky enough to have a career in franchise cricket and white-ball cricket and all of that, Test cricket is my real love. I sort of look at it and think if anyone is going to reinvigorate Test cricket and get it popular again and try and attract the next generation of people, then it's going to be England.", he added.

McCullum won the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title with TKR and was runner-up with KKR in the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).