Brendon McCullum has emerged as a strong candidate to become England men's Test head coach

Brendon McCullum is close to being appointed as England men's new Test head coach with the appointment expected to be made on Thursday.

The 40-year-old is understood to have emerged as the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) preferred candidate, and is believed to be interested in the job, but a deal still needs to be agreed.

McCullum, who played 101 Test matches for New Zealand, is currently in charge of Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders.

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The ECB interviewed for both England's white and red ball head coaching positions last week following new managing director Rob Key's decision to split the roles following the departure of Chris Silverwood.

Former South Africa and India head coach Gary Kirsten had been considered a major contender for the role, with the ECB set to make the appointment before the end of the week.

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Ex-Australia batter Simon Katich and former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood were also part of the process and remain in contention for the white-ball job.

The ECB favouring McCullum for the Test job comes a surprise, as the former New Zealand captain is better known as a white-ball specialist.

However, as Sky Sports' James Cole explains, he does not come without adequate experience for the Test role.

"The emergence of Brendon McCullum as a leading candidate for the Test role is a surprise because, on the surface, he would appear more suited to the white-ball role," said Cole.

"As a player, he was a white-ball specialist, that is where his prowess was.

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"As a coach, he has worked exclusively with franchise T20 cricket and he also has a very good relationship with Eoin Morgan, England's current white-ball captain.

"That said, McCullum played over 100 Tests for New Zealand and the former captain certainly knows what it takes to be successful in Test cricket and his relationship with Ben Stokes, or any coach's relationship with Ben Stokes, the new Test captain, will also be key in the decision made by the ECB.

"Also in contention remains Gary Kirsten, the former India and South Africa coach, he is in contention for both roles.

"The interview process has been completed and the ECB will appoint before the end of the week."

England are scheduled to play New Zealand in a three-match Test series commencing on June 2 at Lord's.

Key: We need more homegrown coaches

Despite McCullum leading the way for the role, managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key has said the ECB needs to work on bringing through more homegrown coaches, admitting it is a failure of the ECB system there are not more English coaches up for the job.

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"Let's be honest, we are at this point where we have two coaching jobs and the majority of the names coming at you will be overseas coaches. That can't be right," said Key.

"That is a fault of the system and we need to be sorting this out. Whenever I read [the media] you are always tipping overseas coaches and that is the fault of us at the ECB.

"You can't be telling me there are not good English coaches. We have this whole system in place and we have to make it an appealing job and an appealing process. There are so many people in our game that have great views and we want them in coaching. It can't always be someone else's fault. What do we need to do?"