Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has emerged as the frontrunner to take over as England’s next Test coach.
The England and Wales Cricket Board started to interview candidates last week to replace Brendon McCullum, who lost his role as red-ball boss after a poor run of form and 4-1 loss in the winter Ashes.
After former England chief Andy Flower ruled himself out of the running and Justin Langer this week revealed he had not been contacted by ECB, Fleming has jumped to the front of the queue after a round of interviews and looks set to be appointed as McCullum’s replacement.
The 53-year-old appears to hold a close relationship with England white-ball head coach McCullum after they played together on the international scene across a six-year spell.
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.
