It was in February 2002 in Sydney that a 20-year-old Brendon McCullum,having only made his international debut a couple of weeks earlier,was 12th man for New Zealand against south Africa in the second final of the tri-nations VB series that Australia had remarkably not reached. And as McCullum has sence recounted in his autobiography,while running the drinks on and off he “couldn’t help noticing a certain blonde with a lovely smile sitting a couple of rows back”.The blonde, Ellissa Arthur, would soon become Mrs McCullum and before that, a few months after they met, mccullum would return to Sydney to be with her and begin a journey of Australian influence upon his cricket that extends to this day in his role as the head coach of England. The Australians, as evidenced by the comical newspaper headlines that have been greeting England’s cricketers every day since arriving in Australia, love to hate “Bazball”, but the ironic truth is that it is mostly down to them that England now play that way.

In Sydney, McCullum played club cricket for Balmain while Steve Rixon, the former wicketkeeper who had previously coached New Zealand, was in charge of New South Wales (NSW) and almost daily would oversee specialist keeping sessions with McCullum and the NSW wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.

After those practices McCullum would hang around the NSW net sessions, where the likes of the Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Michael Slater and Stuart MacGill were strutting their stuff. And they were strutting, apparently. “These guys were the best of the best at the time and they knew it,” McCullum, now 44, wrote in his autobiography. “They had a bit of a swagger about them, an aura, a bit like the one around the all Blacks. I watched how they carried themselves,their confidence and arrogance,and thought that was the way to do it.” Fr

The Spirit of Cricket: From McCullum’s Chivalry to Hughes’s Tragedy

New Zealand, having lost the 2015 World Cup final to Australia in Melbourne – a match where captain Brendon McCullum was dismissed in the very first over – embarked on a tour of England that summer, winning over fans with their sporting attitude. mccullum’s popularity soared, leading to a role as an Ashes columnist for the Daily Mail, where he openly criticised aspects of the Australian team’s behavior. He questioned Steve Smith’s decision not to recall Ben Stokes after a controversial obstructing the field dismissal and took issue with David Warner’s lack of applause for Joe Root’s century in cardiff.

Warner retorted, “In my opinion it was something that was quite poor and immature on his behalf. At the end of the day you’re not playing for the Spirit of Cricket Award are you?”

Mitchell Johnson chimed in via twitter, stating, “I find it strange when someone keeps telling the world how nice they are! You wouldn’t need to say anything if it’s true!”

Though, a pivotal moment for McCullum occurred in November 2014. While captaining New Zealand in the third Test against Pakistan in Sharjah, news arrived on the second morning of the tragic death of Phil Hughes, who had succumbed to injuries sustained from a bouncer delivered by Sean Abbott the previous day.

McCullum had previously shared an opening partnership with Hughes in the 2009 Big Bash final, forging a strong rapport with him that continued in subsequent encounters.

McCullum’s Captaincy Rooted in Warne’s Boldness

Australia were impressed by McCullum’s leadership style as a player. GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

The reality is Brendon McCullum draws his greatest inspiration from a captain Australia never truly had: Shane Warne. Think back to that memorable Big Bash match in 2011. Melbourne Stars versus Brisbane Heat. Warne famously predicted to television viewers how he would dismiss McCullum before actually doing it.

“He might try to shape to sweep after that first one or maybe go inside out again a bit harder, so I’m gonna try to slide…”