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Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been appointed England Test coach.
Fleming has replaced former England Test coach Brendon McCullum, who has been retained as ODI and T20I coach.
“I played against Fleming a lot back in the day. He was always a calm, thoughtful and composed leader. Honestly, probably the perfect personality to coach Test cricket,” former Australia batsman Damien Martyn told Criclines.
“It creates a really interesting balance now, doesn’t it? You’ve got Brendon McCullum managing the white-ball set-ups with all that high-octane energy and then you bring in Fleming as the calm voice for the Test side. It actually makes a lot of sense, especially given how well those two know each other from their playing days.”
Batsman Joe Root has returned to the England Test captaincy after all-rounder Ben Stokes retired from international cricket.
“With Joe returning to the captaincy, Fleming will bring a bit of focus back into the dressing room. The whole ‘Bazball’ media circus got pretty wild there for a while.
“It wasn’t entirely the players’ fault, the media just ran with it and while it was fantastic when they were chasing down crazy totals, there were times in Australia where England misread the situation.
“Root would have sat back during Stokes’ tenure and taken mental notes. Stokes and McCullum were all-out attack, but Test cricket over five days isn’t always played at 100 miles an hour.
“Sometimes you have to pull it back, calm things down, build pressure and just play traditional Test cricket. Fleming is the ideal guy to instill that discipline.”
Former captain Kevin Pietersen worked with England’s limited-overs squad recently. This mentorship role might extend to the Test squad.
“I’ve caught up with Kevin a few times since retiring and I really like him. Back when we played, he used to annoy the absolute hell out of us. Whether he was out in the field or batting, he was right in your face,” added Martyn.
“But as a cricketer, he was exceptionally clever and had supreme self-belief. He was one of the first guys I saw who could completely dictate terms. He knew when to step on the gas, when to pull it back and how to target specific bowlers.
“Passing that knowledge onto younger players is invaluable. It reminds me a bit of what Dean Jones used to do for Australian one-day cricket. Kevin knows the T20 and one-day game inside out and when he talks tactics, players listen. Honestly, if he enjoys the role, why wouldn’t you bring him on a tour to Australia as part of the set-up? He knows what it takes to win out here.”
The post Stephen Fleming ‘probably the perfect personality to coach Test cricket’ appeared first on Cricket365.
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