Root says Fleming's appointment 'big reason' behind return as England Test captain

KARACHI: England's batting stalwart Joe Root on Saturday claimed that former New Zealand cricketer Stephen Fleming's appointment as their Test head coach played a big role in his return as the captain.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Thursday confirmed Fleming and Root as the new head coach and captain of its men's Test team, succeeding Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, respectively.

Following Stokes's international retirement, which came during their home Test series decider against New Zealand last month, the all-rounder's deputy Harry Brook was being seen as the frontrunner to become the new England Test captain.

The role, however, was eventually handed to Root, who had previously captained England in the format from 2017 to 2022, with England's managing director Rob Key suggesting that the vacancy had arrived "too soon" for Brook.

Root, who had a mixed record as England Test captain during his maiden stint, with 27 victories, as many defeats and 11 draws, has stressed that he feels like a "hugely different" person to when he relinquished the role in 2022.

He further asserted that Fleming's appointment as the head coach played a crucial role in his return as the skipper, citing the former New Zealand cricketer's wealth of experience.

"If I'm being brutally honest, it [Fleming's appointment] was a big reason why I wanted to do it," Root told the ECB.

"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.

"I'm very much looking forward to working with him. 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."

For the unversed, Root's first assignment in his second stint as England Test captain will be a three-match home series against Pakistan, scheduled to run from August 19 to September 13, but the 35-year-old will be without Fleming, who will be in New Zealand due to family commitments.

In Fleming's absence for the upcoming series, former England cricketer Marcus Trescothick will serve as England's interim head coach, while Root remained upbeat about the challenge, which he described as quite tricky, as the majority of the English players are only due to have two full training days before the first Test at Headingley.

"It's always a huge honour to turn up to the start of a Test series and to get your teeth into what will be a really good contest against a good team in Pakistan. I'll be very much looking forward to it, and getting all the guys in," Root stated.

"[The Pakistan series] is going to be slightly different. It's going to be quite tricky. 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," he concluded.