Seldom in recent times has the choice of New Zealand cricket coach received such widespread support.
John Wright, a determined opening batsman, who it seems managed to corral the talent, egos and rivalries of Indian cricket during a successful 5-year coaching spell there, has taken charge of his home nation's premier team.
The task he now faces - starting on the field today - is very different and very difficult.
Nevertheless, if anyone can engender the selflessness, grit and guts that underdog New Zealand urgently needs - given what he was known for during his time as a player and since during his coaching career - it is Wright.
In India, Wright guided a team stacked with stars but lacking in unity and purpose.
He brought an outsider's perspective, free from personal, regional and cultural connections and loyalties.
He comes into the Black Caps with, inevitably, some baggage.
But, hopefully, the respect he commands in the cricketing world is also present in the minds of all the players.
Andy Moles only lasted six months before being bumped, apparently by player power.
We now find that Mark Greatbatch, whom we thought was the full ''coach'', was supposedly just the batting coach; while a performance director, Roger Mortimer, also travelled with the team.
Then there is Daniel Vettori, the best player, the captain and selector and often the de facto coach.
The whole thing looked to be a bit of a mess.
The call went out for Wright to take the role two years ago, and there were conflicting reports about whether he wanted the head coach role or whether he and New Zealand Cricket were just unable to agree to a set-up on Wright's terms.
Now that he is in place, although interestingly not as a selector, central to the dynamics and success of the team will be his relationship with Vettori.
The way is now open for Vettori's unprecedented and massive responsibilities to be lessened.
But will he, being such a strong character, be able to stand back and let Wright play his required important leadership role?
Wright comes in with New Zealand having lost 11 straight one-day internationals. Surely, that should be enough to dispel any unjustified arrogance among the players, should any exist.
The team is facing Pakistan in test matches, one-dayers and T/20s next month, and then returns to the Indian sub-continent for the one-day World Cup.
Looking at the performances and the recent disarray, it would be easy to conclude Wright has been given an impossible mission.
Such is the importance of head space, attitude and spirit in sport, however, that abrupt turnarounds do occur.
There were hopeful signs in the first two tests against India last month of the fight that will be needed, even if New Zealand fell away badly in the third test and the one-day series that followed.
Despite a lack of depth, there is promise when everyone plays to their potential.
A fresh coach in sport can have immediate effect, breaking the circuits that were impeding performance.
If New Zealand is in confusion, Pakistan's state is worse.
Rocked by betting scandals, its team has been decimated. Nevertheless, the essence of Pakistani cricket is its unpredictability.
Fresh talent always seems to arrive, and it is used to playing against a background of controversy and disorder.
What a shame, though, that it is only a year ago that Pakistan was here. What a shame, too, that match-fixing allegations taint Pakistani fixtures.
New Zealand cricket has suffered from a lack of exposure to test cricket, and it was not so long ago that a full year passed without a test.
Test cricket, the foundation of the game, is the full-service and full-course dinner compared with short, quick and tasty hamburger versions.
Nowhere is the place of test cricket better illustrated than in what is one of international sport's premier contests, England v Australia.
Not only is a world record crowd of more than 90,000 expected on the first day of the fourth test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today (the Boxing Day test), but interest here is higher than in both the recent New Zealand one-day series in India and the Pakistan series to come.
What a worthwhile distraction the topsy-turvy Ashes series provides from local woes.
And it might just help take some pressure off John Wright as he moulds his team and does his best to show he was the right choice.
