England head coach Brendon McCullum is ready for a new start as the Three Lions prepare for a three-Test rubber against New Zealand starting this Thursday. The New Zealander also admitted that he and Test captain Ben Stokes had had differences in the past.McCullum and Stokes appear to have patched up. (AFP)Things have been tough for McCullum over the last few months, particularly since the 4-1 Ashes defeat earlier this year. During the tour, reports emerged that McCullum and Stokes were not on the same page. Then, during the matches, the English team went on holiday and drank hard in Noosa, a beautiful coastal scene in Australia. Their opener, Ben Duckett, particularly gained notoriety after he was pictured in an inebriated state. Preceding the Test series, white-ball captain Harry Brook too had a nightclub fight in New Zealand. The unfortunate incident came to light much later. Then Stokes almost died in a freakish accident at a Durham nets. He broke his jawbone and had to undergo surgery.Also Read: IPL 2026 exposed the auction bubble: Franchises paid for names, bargain picks delivered real valueAfter the Ashes debacle, an inquiry was launched into the team’s performance. Last month, McCullum, Stokes and director of cricket Rob Key survived and were given another chance to set things to rights. McCullum is willing, for sure.Agrees to disagree!“You are never going to agree on everything, right? I think Stokesy and I have worked brilliantly together for the last four years, and throughout that time, we've consistently had robust conversations, and that's because we're respectful to one another. We both have the same vision for where we want this team to go.“And if anything, all this last period has done is given us a more... a more crystal clear direction of how we're gonna operate as captain and coach, and fundamentally, we just want what's best for this side, and all those fans, and all the fans that support the English cricket team.“So, you know, it's OK if Stokes and I sit there and disagree on things at times. That is life, that is how it works. But fundamentally, you need to, when you do decide which direction you're having, you're going, you disagree, and you commit, and you get on with them. That's what we've done, and that's what we'll continue to do,” McCullum told Sky Sports Cricket.McCullum and other big stakeholders in English cricket earlier had also promised they would look to give opportunities to county cricketers, which wasn’t the case over the last couple of years, as they chose to stick to a select set of players.