LONDON: Joe Root was reappointed as England’s Test captain on Thursday, with ex-New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming named as head coach as the team embark on a new era.
The announcement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) follows the sacking of Brendon McCullum as Test coach and the shock retirement of former skipper Ben Stokes from international cricket earlier this month.
McCullum, who remains in charge of England’s white-ball teams, lost his job after a 2-1 home series loss to New Zealand in June, which followed a disastrous Ashes campaign in Australia.
Root will resume his role as skipper in the three-match series with Pakistan starting next month but Fleming is not scheduled to arrive until later in the year.
Yorkshireman Root holds the record for captaining England in the most Tests (65) and to the most wins (27).
He skippered the team from 2017 to 2022 and took the role on an interim basis at the Oval during the recent series against New Zealand.
The 35-year-old is second behind India’s Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time Test scoring list, with more than 14,000 runs.
“It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to be England men’s Test captain again,” said Root.
“The Test captaincy is a difficult but hugely rewarding job and, after enjoying a brief taste of it again working with Baz McCullum last month, I am excited to lead this next generation of players forward.”
‘Exceptional leader’
Root described Fleming, 53, as an “exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game”.
Marcus Trescothick will be interim head coach for the Pakistan series, which starts at Headingley on August 19, ahead of Fleming’s arrival later this year.
Fleming, who retired as a player in 2009, made 111 Test appearances for New Zealand.
“The ambition is always to win now,” said Fleming. “But equally, it’s about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future.”
He added: “I´m particularly looking forward to working with Joe Root as captain — a generational talent who has achieved so much already.
“There is still plenty more to come from him, and 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.”
Managing director of England men´s cricket Rob Key hailed Fleming as one of the most highly respected figures in cricket.
“I believe he is the best person to guide a team stacked full of potential and turn that talent into a world-class outfit that can not only achieve success but sustain it,” Key said.
Key said Root was “passionate about leading this team into a new era”.
The two appointments draw a line under the ultra-attacking ‘Bazball’ era of McCullum and Stokes, which started in 2022.
The two men injected new energy into a floundering Test team that had won just one match in 17 under Root.
England won 10 out of their first 11 Tests under the pair but gradually lost momentum, crucially failing to win a series against Australia or India.
Stokes made his dramatic retirement announcement during the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
He had been dropped for the second Test after breaking a team curfew at a London nightclub, the latest in a series of off-field incidents involving England players.
McCullum denied rumours of a rift with his skipper after previous reports of tensions between the two men during the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.
