In March this year, the England Test Cricket team lost their series against in the West Indies.  This followed a 5-0 series Ashes loss in Australia, and marked a run of losses for England Test captain Joe Root.

After the Windies loss, Joe Root resigned, and Ben Stokes was installed as Captain, and New Zealander Brendan McCullum as Head Coach.

Fast forward 2 months, Ben Stoke's England have just completed a 3-0 white wash of New Zealand - the number 1 ranked Test team in the world. Followed by victory over India.

Most interestingly this turnaround was achieved with pretty much the same team.    Joe Root is still a key member of the team - scoring critical match-winning runs for the team - and supporting Captain Stokes.  The main difference is a change in mentality and culture, driven by the change in leadership.

The mousey mild Root, replaced by the front-footed Stokes.

Stoke's insight into what's changed in the England cricket camp was nicely articulated in his Test Match Special interview:

"There is clarity within the team and changing room. It is the language that we speak in and the mentality that we get across. It is amazing the language that you use in a changing room and results have looked after themselves in a way. It's just how we play the game, that has been the most important thing, and five weeks ago that was the main thing. Yeah, it's awesome."

Lesson learnt: don't underestimate the radical impact of a change in leadership when there's a good product in place to exploit.

IMAGE CREDIT: BBC online