Cricket: How the All Blacks inspired England's team rebuild before World Cup win

England captain Eoin Morgan and All Blacks captain Kieran Read. Photos / Getty

Cricket World Cup winners England took inspiration from the All Blacks during their long rebuild to change their team culture before this year's tournament.

After failing to qualify for the quarter-finals in the 2015 World Cup, England underwent a full rethink of their strategy and philosophy, which would ultimately catapult them to the top of the ODI rankings – and World Cup glory after beating the Black Caps in this year's final.

England captain Eoin Morgan along with the team management were left in charge of rebuilding the team culture and underwent months of secret work on a new team ethos.

As part of that rebuild, the captains consulted with author James Kerr, who wrote Legacy, a book about the All Blacks and leadership, according to The Telegraph.

Kerr revealed how the All Blacks, considered by many to be the world's greatest sports team, preach humility, the history of the All Blacks, and values both on and off the field.

Morgan also learned how the All Blacks changed their haka and took note of how all the players had a role in that decision.

Much like how the All Blacks players were involved in the new triangle formation of the Ka Mate before the 2015 Rugby World Cup – where they discussed the formation on a trip to the Ngāti Toa marae in Wellington during a pre-tournament camp – the England cricket team decided to consult individual players about their newly-formed game plan.

Morgan and the England management wrote the game plan for the best part of a year and handed it to the players during a series against Pakistan in October 2015.

"We worked on it for a long time before giving it to the players so they felt they owned it," an England team source told The Telegraph. "They had an input in what we want from individuals in a team game.

"The players started telling us what they wanted in the game plan so when we presented the document they felt they had delivered it."

The team's rebirth and newly-formed identity, inspired by the All Blacks, ultimately paid off, with England being crowned champions over New Zealand in the final at Lord's earlier this month.