England Appoint Stephen Fleming As Test Coach, Joe Root Replaces Ben Stokes As Captain

English cricket turned to another New Zealander on Thursday to coach the men’s test team, hiring former Kiwi star Stephen Fleming with batting great Joe Root reappointed as captain.

Fleming replaced his former teammate Brendon McCullum, who was fired after losing the Ashes series 4-1 in Australia and, last month, the home series to New Zealand 2-1.

England now has an all-New Zealand coaching set-up with McCullum remaining in charge of the one-day and Twenty20 teams.

Fleming will start his new job after Pakistan’s three-test tour, which begins on Aug. 19 in Leeds. Marcus Trescothick will be the interim England coach for that series.

Root was previously the permanent test captain of England from 2017-22 and holds the national record of 65 tests as captain, winning a record 27 of those matches.

The 35-year-old Root formally replaces Ben Stokes, who retired from international cricket after the New Zealand series in June. Stokes had endorsed his vice-captain Harry Brook as the next captain.

In his playing career, Fleming was New Zealand’s longest-serving captain across 80 test matches and won 28 of them. He played for three English county teams and won a league title with Nottinghamshire in 2005.

“English cricket gave that to me and it is a privilege to have this chance to give something back,” he said in a statement.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said it was giving Fleming leave to return home to be with family as he stepped down from coaching Chennai Super Kings only this month. He will prepare England for three tests in South Africa in December-January.

Fleming led Chennai to a record five titles in the Indian Premier League.