Last Updated on 14 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
Reinstated England Test captain Joe Root says the appointment of Stephen Fleming as coach played a key role in accepting the position.
Root resigned from the captaincy in 2022 following a poor run of form where England had won just one of 17 Tests. However, the impending arrival of Fleming gives England’s greatest batter a sense of optimism moving forward.
Joe Root: Excited by the way Stephen Fleming sees the game
England turned to Root following the retirement of Ben Stokes. Managing Director Rob Key suggested the captaincy is “too soon” for Harry Brook, with Root considered the best option.
“If I’m being brutally honest, it [Fleming’s appointment] was a big reason why I wanted to do it,” Root told the ECB, as quoted by Cricinfo. “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. All of that got me very excited about taking this role on.”
England are in need of a reset. They have won just two of their past nine Tests, with victories coming on the unsatisfactory pitches of Melbourne and Lord’s in this period.
Next up is a three-match series against struggling Pakistan, who currently sit bottom of the World Test Championship table.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with him [Fleming],” Root said. “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.”
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What Joe Root has learned since resigning from the captaincy in 2022
Root says he is a very different person to the one that gave the captaincy away in 2022. He said the time under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes will serve he and the team well moving forward.
However, Root emphasised the importance of playing the situation – a characteristic that was lacking in the latter part of McCullum and Stokes’ reign.
“The thing that stands out the most for me is the shift in mindset that was created around how we want to play the game: trying to strip the fear away from things, make sure guys feel that they can really just allow their talent to come out as frequently as possible, and in big moments in games. The more that can happen, the better,” Root said.
“If we can do that alongside recognising when the right time is to put pressure back on teams, or when the right time is to soak it up and to maybe play situations slightly differently, become a little bit smarter in certain areas, then I think we’ll be a very formidable team, and a very difficult team to break down and to beat.”
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While England are expected to beat Pakistan, the short turnaround after The Hundred poses a challenge. The players featuring in that tournament will have just two training days to prepare for that series, which begins on August 19.
“[The Pakistan series] is going to be slightly different. It’s going to be quite tricky,” Root said.
“It’s a very short turnaround [from the Hundred, which ends on August 16]. So it’s going to be important that we start really well in those two days that we have leading into the game.”
