Former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum, who is currently head coach of IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders, has emerged as the favourite to become the new England Test team coach, a report in mirror.co.uk said on Wednesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The report added that the 40-year-old could be announced as the red-ball coach before the end of this week.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The 40-year-old could form a dream team partnership with (new England Test skipper) Ben Stokes, as the two men have similar positive outlooks on the game and how to take it forward," said the report.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Initially, after Chris Silverwood stepped down as England's chief coach in the wake of the Ashes debacle, South African opener Gary Kirsten had reportedly emerged as the front-runner for the Test job, while McCullum's name was mentioned as a possible white-ball coach because of his limited-overs credentials as a player, and his coaching experience with Kolkata Knight Riders.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the New Zealander's Test credentials were overlooked at that time. McCullum has played 101 Tests, captaining New Zealand on 31 occasions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n