Reinvigorate Root and fix culture: What's in new Test coach Fleming's in-tray?

Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed contenders to replace Ben Stokes as England's Test all-rounder, with new coach Stephen Fleming naming Joe Root as Test captain over Harry Brook; how red-ball supremo works with white-ball boss Brendon McCullum will be vital as success targeted in all forms

>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…

>Ben Stokes' shock - and extravagant, considering it came at 3.25pm while he was midway through a bowling spell - retirement from international cricket meant England needed a captain to lead them post-Bazball.

>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.

>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.

>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".

>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.

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>"Joe was completely wrung out at the end of his time as captain for five years," former England batter Mark Butcher told Sky Sports News. "The best thing that happened to him and his game was not being captain any more.

>"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."

>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.

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>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.

>Brook, though, reignited conversations after guiding England to a 4-0 T20 series win over India that moved them top of the T20I rankings 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.

>"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."

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>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.

>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.

>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.

>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.

>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.

>McCullum has said that "robust" conversations will take place with the Test coach 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."

>That harmony feels significantly easier to maintain with two coaches so familiar with each other already.

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>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.

>But Fleming will not want that to damage England's excellent T20 form or the objective of fixing an ODI side languishing eighth in the rankings and winning the 2027 50-over World Cup.

>England fans crave success on all fronts - there has been no global white-ball trophy since 2022, no Ashes win since 2015 - and the coaches must align to make that possible.

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>England have had more drink-related incidents than their Test side has had wins of late, with Brook's scrap with a bouncer in New Zealand, Ben Duckett seemingly intoxicated during a pilloried beach break in Noosa between Ashes Tests, and then Stokes and Gus Atkinson's curfew-breaking, headline-making trip to a Chelsea nightspot.

>How clear the curfew was remains, well, unclear and that is another black mark that can be labelled against this team: lack of attention to detail.

>We saw that in their Ashes preparation, with just one warm-up game prior to the Perth Test - and not a particularly useful one at that, in that it was played on a docile surface at Lilac Hill that in no way matched the bouncy deck they would come up against at Optus Stadium. And we all know what happened there…

>Batters out driving on the up ad nauseum as England threw away a golden position. Now-interim coach Marcus Trescothick would later say there were no discussions about playing those shots on that surface. Really?!

>"There's been a number of times now that we've let ourselves down" incoming captain Root said after England's latest escapade.

>"We have to learn from those mistakes and understand that we shouldn't be putting ourselves in those situations."

>The ECB issued new additional player behaviour guidelines in July ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan - it is now up to Fleming and Root to make sure they are followed far better than under Stokes and McCullum.

>Stokes' departure - unless he can be lured back - not only deprives England of a talismanic captain but also a gun all-rounder, even if his batting form tapered off at the back end of his Test career with just one hundred since the 2023 Ashes.

>There is no easy fix here, although Sam Curran is a seam-bowling all-rounder option - his left-arm angle may be useful - while Rehan Ahmed offers a spin-bowling one. Leg-spinner Ahmed's inclusion at No 7 could allow England to play four frontline quicks.

>Most of the batting spots look locked in: Bethell at No 3, Root at No 4, Brook at No 5 and possibly, after a timely ton versus New Zealand, Duckett as one opener. Duckett's top-order accomplice is maybe not so certain with Emilio Gay hitting two fifties against the Kiwis but tailing off thereafter. Other county openers will feel they have a chance.

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>The same will apply for spinners with the two men who made Shoaib Bashir their pet project, Stokes and McCullum, no longer around. Bashir has potential, no doubt, but the new Test coach may want someone with more tangible stats behind them. Jack Leach, perhaps?

>Jamie Smith could also be sweating on his spot as wicketkeeper-batter. After a lean Ashes, he did not fare outstandingly against New Zealand, albeit his replacement at The Oval while he was on paternity leave, James Rew, toiled with bat and gloves during a sobering debut.

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>Of all the objectives on the coach's to-do list, this is right at the top of it.

>The end of the Bazball era saw just three wins from the final 12 matches, while the whole of the Bazball era saw no series victories over Australia and India - the contests on which England are judged - with 2-2 draws at home to those sides and 4-1 batterings away.

>Fleming should not - and most likely will not - abandon every Bazball principle. Attacking, in-your-face cricket got England into a number of match-winning positions over the last four years - only for the players to get too amped up and then chuck those positions away by not reining themselves in. See Lord's 2023, Rajkot 2024 and Perth 2025 as prime examples.

>The task is to cut out the brainless bits and make sure refinement and responsibility come when games are in the palm of England's hands, as while English fans obviously enjoy entertaining cricket, they love winning cricket even more.

>And they love winning against Australia more than anything. That opportunity arises again next summer, which makes Fleming's appointment crucial.