Thursday's announcement that Stephen Fleming has been appointed England’s new Test head coach, with Joe Root returning as captain, will leave many England fans feeling underwhelmed, but for first time in years pragmatism has been preferred to chaos.
The appointment of Fleming must be viewed as a huge positive. A wonderful captain of New Zealand, leading the Black Caps 80 times in Tests in an 111-match career, the 53-year-old also captained Nottinghamshire with distinction for many years.
Long viewed as a shrewd thinker of the game, someone who has always drawn the best from the resources at his disposal, Fleming’s reputation has grown further since moving into coaching, leading Chennai Super Kings to a record five IPL titles as well as guiding Southern Brave to the final of The Hundred in 2023.
After the rollercoaster of Bazball and Brendon McCullum’s four-and-a-half year reign, Fleming’s calm demeanour and proven ability to get his teams to play in different ways according to conditions promises to be a big step forward for this England team.
That flexibility was so often in evidence at CSK, where his teams would win ugly on slow, turning pitches in Chennai, but could quickly reinvent themselves away from home, trading punches with the biggest hitters in the tournament and more often than not coming out on top.
Just as McCullum’s aggressive, positive outlook was a good fit for English cricket in 2022, coming out of the doldrums of the Chris Silverwood era that had been blighted by a negative style of play and, more pertinently, the Covid pandemic, Fleming’s greater experience, superior tactical knowledge and more well-rounded approach to the game feels right in this moment.
His appointment makes particular sense alongside the reappointment of Root, whose 27 wins across 65 Tests as captain remains an England record, but who rightfully faced criticism for his own tactical approach towards the end of his first stint in charge which saw England win only once from his last 17 matches as skipper.
When stepping back into the role for what appeared to be a one-off in June, Root’s tactical shortcomings were again in evidence at the Oval as England bowled poorly to some questionable plans at New Zealand’s lower order.
When Ben Stokes returned for the next game at Trent Bridge, few could've imagined it would be his last in an England shirt, with Root appearing to have helped out his old mate one last time following a late-night incident in a Chelsea watering hole that meant the Durham all-rounder was suspended for one game.
But now is Root is back for his third stint in charge, Stokes having seemingly had enough of the ECB and the general circus that has followed his international career, with England now looking for safer hands to guide them through this next period.
Root won’t let England down. He won’t be caught out drinking in nightclubs when he shouldn’t, he’ll handle the press with agility and class, and will always have the respect of his players because of the man he is and the fact he is the best batsman England has ever produced.
And where his tactical limitations are on the field, he will now have a helping hand from one of the sharpest minds in cricket. Someone who has vast experience of captaining in this format, of making the most of what he has in his team, and someone who understands the modern player, particularly the batter so heavily influenced by T20 cricket.
On Root, Fleming said in a statement on the ECB website: “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.”
Expect Fleming’s influence to be all over Root’s captaincy in the upcoming series with Pakistan, and Root to be all the better for it. So will his young bowling attack. And being the man he is, Root won’t mind that. Always wanting to improve and striving for perfection, this is Root’s chance to a better version of the captain he was.
Harry Brook has done a fine job with the white-ball teams and has openly admitted he would love to become Test captain, but it’s clear that it's felt too much of a burden at this stage of his career. So high is his ceiling, Book's extraordinary talents with the bat remain some way from being fulfilled.
This feels fair on Brook, who will surely be given the job one day, but the onus is now on Rob Key to put proper foundations in place for English cricket, identifying future leaders, both in terms of captaincy and coaching, to ensure the ECB aren’t left exposed to another shock retirement or an inevitable sacking in the future as they have been in the last few months.
That England have been forced to go back to Root in the first place is a shocking indictment of the job Key has done up to now, and with the Yorkshireman nearing his 36th birthday, Key better start planning ahead.
Fleming has said as much himself, adding: “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.”
He’s dead right. Today’s appointments are the best options in this moment. It may not have the sexy feel that Bazball brought in 2022, or the excitement of a white-knuckle ride with Stokes, but England now have two good men in charge, outstanding players themselves and fine leaders in different ways.
And looking at their respective personalities, they promise to get along well, while holding enough respect for the other to challenge and reason when that is required, something perhaps McCullum and Stokes could not do towards the end of their professional relationship.
There’s a famous quote about there being no good options in war, and Key and the ECB, through their own poor management and planning, left themselves with very little wriggle room when Stokes walked away and McCullum had to be shown the door following a lengthy run of poor results.
What came next was never going to be ideal, but Fleming is an outstanding coach, now working alongside one of the game’s greatest ever batsman who is sure to have learned much from his past experiences as captain.
For the first time in a long time, English cricket fans can feel a sense of calm. Like we have people running the show who know what they are doing and who won’t let them down. No more madness, just the beginning of a journey to take England’s Test team to a better place.
That journey might not be a quick one and it might not end with Root as captain, but for now, he and his new coach feel like the best options on the table. Pragmatism over chaos. I, for one, like the sound of that.
