Stephen Fleming set to become England’s new Test coach
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has emerged as the leading candidate to become England’s next Test coach.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) began interviewing potential successors last week following Brendon McCullum’s departure from the red-ball role. McCullum’s tenure concluded after a period of poor performance, culminating in a 4-1 Ashes series defeat over the winter.
Fleming has reportedly moved to the forefront of consideration after a series of interviews. This comes after former England chief Andy Flower withdrew his name from contention, and Justin Langer confirmed he had not been approached by the ECB.
The 53-year-old Fleming is understood to share a close professional history with England’s white-ball head coach, McCullum, having played alongside him internationally for six years. He is now widely expected to be appointed as the new red-ball boss.
The Kiwi duo also co-founded digital platform CricHQ in 2015 and were coaching rivals for a period in the Indian Premier League, with Fleming’s Chennai Super Kings defeating McCullum’s Kolkata Riders in the final of the 2021 edition.
That is one of five IPL triumphs for Fleming, who left his role in charge of Super Kings earlier this summer and has previously coached Southern Brave in The Hundred.
Fleming’s departure from Super Kings made him one of the few candidates for the Test job not in an IPL position after Flower and Langer hold vacancies.
Even though ECB chief executive Richard Gould insisted a job-share with a franchise would not be ruled out, it may have posed a problem for the Test against Zimbabwe next May, but it would be one less issue to solve should Fleming be appointed as anticipated.
One of Fleming’s first tasks would be to announce a new England red-ball captain after Ben Stokes retired from international cricket last month.
Interestingly, Fleming has a past association with Stokes after they worked together at Super Kings in 2023.
Fleming would take over an England team down in fifth spot in the world Test rankings, without a series triumph in 14 months and on a run of eight defeats across a 13-match spell.
