RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been appointed as England Test coach, with Joe Root returning as captain.
Fleming, 53, has never previously worked as head coach of a national team but he led Chennai Super Kings to a record five Indian Premier League titles during his 17-year tenure as head coach.
Previous Test coach Brendon McCullum was fired earlier this month following a string of poor results and several off-field incidents, but remains in charge of England's white-ball sides.
Root, 35, whose first spell as Test captain was between 2017 and 2022, captained England to a record 27 Test wins in 65 matches.
He has been reappointed captain following the shock retirement of Ben Stokes from international cricket in June.
Fleming said he was "incredibly excited" to be taking on the role as Test coach.
"It's one of the most prestigious coaching positions in world cricket and I am honoured to be appointed," he added.
Fleming will not be in charge for the Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 19 August. Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will be the interim head coach.
Fleming will spend time with his family in New Zealand before flying to the UK later this summer to begin preparations for the South Africa Test tour in December.
Root said taking on the captain's role alongside Fleming was a "huge motivator".
He added: "[Fleming] has proved over a long period of time that he is an exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game, and I am looking forward to working with him and helping to build a winning environment."
Fleming will inherit a side that saw its momentum falter after a breathtaking start to the McCullum era.
McCullum won 10 out of 12 Tests in his first year in charge but since then, England have lost 18 and won 17 of 37 Tests.
They have not won a multi-match series since December 2024.
The decision to remove McCullum came after the 4-1 Ashes hammering in Australia was followed by a 2-1 home series defeat by New Zealand, including Stokes announcing his retirement during play in the third Test.
Root made his Test debut in 2012 and holds several England Test cricket records, including highest run scorer with 14,114 runs. He is also second highest run-scorer of all time behind India legend Sachin Tendulkar, who is top with 15,921 runs.
He took over the captaincy for the first time when Alastair Cook stepped down from the role in 2017.
Fleming called Root a "generational talent who has achieved so much already", adding: "I'm excited to support him so he can enjoy and thrive in the role in what is a different context to his first stint."
Gavin Hamilton, director of cricket at Yorkshire, said Root "raises the standards" whenever he returns to his club, with young players learning "simply by watching the way he way he prepares, trains and competes".
Fleming, who retired as a player in 2009, has a wealth of experience in Test cricket as a player, making 111 appearances for New Zealand, scoring 7,172 runs at 40.06, and remains the Black Caps' most successful captain with 28 wins from 80 matches.
He also spent time in England in the county game, playing for Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire - where he won the County Championship in 2005.
"Of course, the ambition is always to win now. But equally, it's about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future," said Fleming.
"There is a lot of young talent in and around the team and our aim is to help them fulfil their potential as world-class cricketers."
Former Test captain Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket on the fourth day of the deciding Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
The shock decision came after he returned to duty following the fall-out from a London nightclub incident where team-mate Gus Atkinson was also present earlier that month.
Stokes, 35, had backed Harry Brook to succeed him in the role, but the 27-year-old, who leads the white-ball sides, was overlooked for the role earlier in the summer.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald says Stokes has "a lot of good cricket left in him" and believes Fleming should entice him out of international retirement for the Ashes next year.
"The fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in," McDonald told Australian radio station SEN on Wednesday, before Fleming's confirmation as coach.
"If you're looking at promoting that series, that's probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement.
"To me, he's still got a lot of good cricket left in him."
Root's return is a fascinating one, though perhaps not overly surprising given the lack of viable options available.
Brook has the responsibility of leading the young England white-ball sides, and was overlooked earlier in the summer when Stokes missed the second Test against New Zealand at the Oval in the fall-out from breaking a curfew after the win at Lord's.
Other choices could have seen Jacob Bethell or Ben Duckett as captain, but these seemed far-fetched given a lack of leadership experience.
What will be interesting is whether Root's leadership style has changed in the four years since giving up the job the first time. His captaincy towards the end of his previous tenure was marked by criticisms of a timid approach that failed to bring the best from England's batting talents.
Will the 'Bazball' mentality that saw Root reverse scooping the first ball of the day in an Ashes Test remain, or is it more likely English Test cricket will see a return to some sense of normality? A balance is probably best for all concerned.
As for Fleming, his close relationship with McCullum could be crucial. The two have described each other as "great mates" and even share business interests. Given the pressures on balancing the demands of the white-ball and red-ball sides, this link is clearly a valuable one.
There has seldom been a time when both the Tes...
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