On August 2, 2026, Joe Root revealed that the appointment of Stephen Fleming as England's test cricket coach was a "big reason" he agreed to return as captain of the squad. Root took over the captaincy following the retirement of Ben Stokes after the home series against New Zealand.

Fleming, a former New Zealand captain, succeeded Brendon McCullum, whose four-year tenure as England's test coach ended last month. McCullum remains England's white-ball coach. Prior to his new role, Fleming coached the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League for 17 years before leaving in July 2026.

Root, who led England as full-time test captain from 2017 to 2022 before being replaced by Stokes, expressed enthusiasm about working with Fleming. He told the England and Wales Cricket Board, "If I'm being brutally honest, it was a big reason why I wanted to do it. I'm very excited by the way he sees the game, where he sees us sit as a team, and the work that we have to do to get to where we want to get to."

The 35-year-old added, "He's obviously got a wealth of experience and done some amazing things within the game as a player and as a coach, and I'm very much looking forward to the next little while, and us trying to build something pretty special together."

Reflecting on his previous captaincy, Root said, "The last four years have been the most fun I've had in professional cricket... Clearly, the last little while is probably what's fresh in everyone's mind, but you're looking at a four-year period where we did a lot of amazing things."

England is set to host Pakistan for a three-test series starting in Leeds on August 19, 2026.

Sources