RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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England have announced the appointment of Stephen Fleming as coach of the men's Test team and he will take over after the three-Test series against Pakistan. We take a look at the jobs on his to-do list ahead of a bumper year… <h3><strong>Reinvigorate Root </strong></h3><p>Ben Stokes' shock - and extravagant, considering it came at 3.25pm while he was midway through a bowling spell - <a href="https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12173/13558900/ben-stokes-englands-serious-entertainer-bows-out-as-cricket-becomes-less-interesting-and-far-worse">retirement from international cricket</a> meant England needed a captain to lead them post-Bazball.</p><p>Enter Joe Root. The former skipper - who has captained the most all-time England Tests with 65 - is set to take the mantle for a second time after a first five-year stint as captain between 2017 and 2022.</p><p>Fleming talked of "bedding in the gains" made by Stokes and Brendon McCullum in his upcoming tenure, and clearly he and the ECB have decided that tried-and-trusted Root - rather than white-ball captain and Test vice-captain Harry Brook - is the man to do just that.</p><widget id="2"></widget><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/13568100/joe-root-reappointed-england-test-captain-as-stephen-fleming-named-head-coach-following-brendon-mccullums-departure"><strong>Root reappointed Test captain as Fleming named head coach </strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/podcasts/36578/11933948/sky-sports-cricket-podcast">Listen to our pundits on the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast</a></strong></li></ul><p>Root's captaincy, though, is not without its drawbacks. He gave it up after five years in charge having won one Test in his last 17, and told Sky Sports in 2022 that the role had started to have "an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life".</p><p>His recent outing as interim Test captain in the absence of Stokes did not do much to reassure doubters. England were subjected to a drubbing, losing the second Test against New Zealand by 253 runs at The Oval in uninspiring fashion.</p> <widget id="10"></widget><p>"Joe was completely wrung out at the end of his time as captain for five years," former England batter Mark Butcher told <em>Sky Sports News. "</em>The best thing that happened to him and his game was not being captain any more.</p><p>"I think it's a retrograde step for the team... I just don't think it's the best move for him to be captain at this time or at any other moment in time actually."</p><p>Fleming's first task, then, has to be readying his veteran leader for the daunting task of a winter tour of South Africa and then the home Ashes next summer.</p><h3><strong>Develop unfinished-product Brook</strong></h3> <widget id="1"></widget><p>The new coach and the powers that be have clearly decided Brook is not ready for such a consuming role. He was overlooked as stand-in leader for the Oval Test against New Zealand after the Stokes nightclub saga, having become embroiled in a nightclub drama of his own in New Zealand before an ODI last winter.</p><p>Brook, though, reignited conversations after guiding England to a<a href="https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/33694/13562596/england-vs-india-jos-buttler-guides-hosts-to-4-0-series-sweep-with-sensational-century-as-harry-brooks-side-go-top-of-world-rankings"> 4-0 T20 series win over India that moved them top of the T20I rankings</a> and a 2-1 ODI series victory over the same opponents. He appears to have a pretty sharp cricketing mind a lot of the time - but, according to Fleming, he needs more time before taking on the red-ball captaincy.</p><p>"I'm also excited to work with Harry Brook," Fleming said. "The best players are never finished products, and helping Harry continue to develop his extraordinary talent and his leadership will be an important part of this journey."</p> <widget id="8"></widget><p>Root's reinstatement has ended concerns over whether Brook could captain in all three forms amid such a packed fixture schedule, and will give the white-ball captain more time to develop his leadership and focus on the upcoming 50-over World Cup in 2027.</p><p>Root, though, turns 36 in December, and his appointment will most likely solely focus on the bumper year of Test cricket ahead - as it feels difficult to imagine the skipper leading the team much beyond that.</p><p>With Brook seemingly the captain-in-waiting, it is perhaps just as incumbent on Fleming to help bring on future leaders as to support the one he has put in place now.</p><h3><strong>Work with white-ball coach McCullum</strong></h3> <widget id="11"></widget><p>While splitting the roles between red and white-ball cricket will allow complete focus on one format for each coach - and therefore reduce the risk of burnout - England's two head honchos will need a strong relationship for it to work.</p><p>Fleming and McCullum certainly have that. The two played alongside each other for six years for New Zealand - with McCullum making his Test debut under Fleming's captaincy - and they were even investors in a business together, cricHQ.</p><p>McCullum has said that<a href="https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12040/13563050/brendon-mccullum-apologises-for-england-test-results-promises-robust-conversations-with-next-head-coach"> "robust" conversations will take place with the Test coach</a> in order to "achieve harmony and success" for English cricket, which can probably be read along the lines of: "I won't be asset stripped."</p><p>That harmony feels significantly easier to maintain with two coaches so familiar with each other already.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>Test cricket, with that home Ashes in a year's time, is clearly the priority, hence why McCullum was relieved of his red-ball duties following the malaise he oversaw.</p><p>But Fleming will not want that to damage England's <a href="https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/13562628/brendon-mccullum-declares-england-wont...
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