Brendon McCullum departed his role as England Test head coach following the team's 4-1 Ashes series defeat to Australia in July 2026. Stephen Fleming, McCullum's former New Zealand team-mate, was appointed as his successor. The departure marked a significant change in England's Test setup as Joe Root returned to the captaincy after Ben Stokes retired from international cricket in June. Root will lead England in a three-Test home series against Pakistan starting August 19.
Root expressed his disappointment
at McCullum's exit in comments following the coaching change. The England captain acknowledged the impact McCullum had made during his tenure and reflected on their working relationship.
"I'll be honest with you. I was gutted when I found out Brendon was no longer going to be the Test coach. He's someone that I feel has really got the best out of me personally. I love the way he sees the game, and the way that he's opened my eyes up to looking at it slightly differently," said Root to Sky Sports.
"I feel like he's a brilliant coach. I'm very glad that we still get to work together in the white-ball stuff. He's someone that I owe a huge amount to, and that I've become pretty close with. I think they're doing brilliant stuff in white-ball teams. And I wish him all the very best in that," he added.
Root's assessment of Fleming as the new Test coach
Root expressed admiration for Fleming's appointment, recognising both his playing credentials and coaching record. Fleming captained New Zealand in 111 Test matches and built a strong reputation in franchise cricket, leading Chennai Super Kings to five IPL titles and two Champions League Twenty20 crowns. However, Fleming had no previous experience coaching a red-ball international team.
"[Fleming and I] have crossed paths a bit over the last few years when he's coached different teams around the world. I have someone that I've always admired. He's someone that I really did admire as a player. The way that he's always held himself as a captain first and foremost. His record as a coach has been exceptional, albeit in T20 cricket. There's so much that I'm looking forward to in that respect," said Root.
Root's reflection on Archer's workload in his first captaincy spell
In his first spell as Test captain, Root was accused of over-using Jofra Archer after bowling the seamer for 42 overs in his maiden overseas match in New Zealand in November 2019, preceding a spell of injuries which saw Archer go over four years without playing a Test match between 2021 and 2025. Root has vowed not to make the same mistake with Archer in his second spell at the Test helm.
"I think at times maybe I did over-bowl him and over-use him. The attack that he works with now complements him really well. [Now] there are other people that can potentially play a role that I might have used Jofra for in the past. I believe he's a generational talent and someone that is going to have produced wonderful things for England across the formats," said Root.
"In Test cricket, he's capable of doing some wonderful things. Clearly, as I said, I didn't get everything right the first time around. I made mistakes, but he's going to be a really important factor in what we do moving forward. I'm very excited to work with him again," he added.
