A major restructuring of England’s men’s senior cricket setup has landed, with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announcing two key leadership appointments Thursday: former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming will take the reins as the men’s Test team’s new head coach, and star batter Joe Root will return to the role of Test captain.
The changes come on the heels of underwhelming on-field results that led to the dismissal of Fleming’s former New Zealand national teammate Brendon McCullum, who had held the Test head coaching position. McCullum was let go after England suffered a 4-1 Ashes series defeat in Australia late last year, followed by a 2-1 home Test loss to New Zealand in June 2024. The shake-up leaves England’s senior men’s coaching structure with an all-New Zealand leadership: McCullum will retain his posts leading the country’s 50-over One Day International and 20-over Twenty20 International squads.
Fleming will not officially step into his new role immediately. Interim head coaching duties for the upcoming three-Test home series against Pakistan, which kicks off August 19 in Leeds, will be filled by former England batter Marcus Trescothick. Fleming stepped down only this month from his long-standing role as head coach of the Indian Premier League’s Chennai Super Kings, and the ECB has granted him temporary leave to return to his home country to attend to family matters before he joins England’s setup. After concluding his leave, Fleming will prepare the England Test squad for their three-Test tour of South Africa, scheduled for December 2024 through January 2025.
Fleming brings a wealth of captaincy and coaching experience to the role. As a player, he remains New Zealand’s longest-serving Test captain, leading the side in 80 Test matches and notching 28 wins — a record for the country at the time of his retirement. He also spent years playing county cricket in England, representing three different clubs and claiming a domestic league title with Nottinghamshire back in 2005. His coaching resume includes an unprecedented five IPL title wins with Chennai Super Kings, a record no other head coach in the league’s history has matched.
“English cricket gave that to me and it is a privilege to have this chance to give something back,” Fleming said in an official statement announcing his appointment.
On the captaincy side, Root’s return to the top leadership role fills the vacancy left by Ben Stokes, who retired from international cricket following England’s June Test series against New Zealand. Root previously served as England’s permanent Test captain from 2017 to 2022, and he holds two national records for the role: he has captained England in more Test matches (65) and notched more Test wins as captain (27) than any other player in the country’s history. Stokes, before stepping down, publicly endorsed vice-captain Harry Brook to succeed him, though the ECB ultimately opted to return Root to the position.