Stephen Fleming: England test cricket coaching role 'too good to refuse'

Stephen Fleming says being involved in the iconic Ashes cricket series was part of why taking on the England Men’s test head coach was an opportunity "too good to refuse".

"New Zealanders love beating Australia so that doesn’t change... To have the opportunity to experience that from a cricket point of view, a professional point of view is an absolute highlight… so I look forward to that,” he told 1News, adding that he needs to “suppress” his excitement about it.

In his first interview with New Zealand media since taking on the reigns, the 53-year-old told 1News he initially had reservations about accepting the role.

“You go through it and think, ‘Can I make an impact?’”

Stephen Fleming is one of New Zealand’s cricketing greats.

He was the most successful Black Caps captain with 28 Test wins and of the best batters. He was captain for 10 years between 1997 and 2007, and retired from international cricket in 2008.

Now he’s excited for his latest challenge.

“As a cricketer, it’s probably the most prestigious position in world cricket and I’ve got a little bit of history in the UK, I played a number of years of county cricket (professional domestic cricket competition) which were some of my best cricketing days, I really enjoyed so I’ve always had a deep respect for English cricket."

The England men’s team remains under intense scrutiny after the Ashes 4-1 loss to Australia at the beginning of this year and the 2-1 test series defeat to New Zealand in June.

Brendon McCullum was fired from the position in July, retaining T20 and one day international coaching positions.

Former Captain Ben Stokes retired during the third test against New Zealand and was stood down with a teammate for the second test while under investigation for breaking their midnight curfew. A string of late-night incidents involving alcohol have marred the team’s reputation.

When England came calling, Fleming had just retired from a lengthy stint in the Indian Premier League coaching the shorter T20 format, mainly as the coach credited with the success of the Chennai Super Kings.

"The job became vacant and it was probably three, four days which wasn’t a lot of time to process leaving one job after 18 years and look at another one but again, the significance of the role and the respect I have for this role is something that made the family and I sit down and go through it.

"When you soak it all in and get all the information and take your time with it, there was something that started to burn in the stomach and then that just grew the more information I had about the job, the people, talking to Brendon [McCullum] and understanding the challenges and also how good it has been and how much he’s enjoyed it, how tough it is so everything put on the table."

The pair are close; McCullum debuted for the Black Caps with Fleming as captain. They're also are business partners.

"It's a challenge at times but he's great," Fleming said.

His honest conversations with McCullum were important as he weighed up the role, and will continue to be important as fellow England coaches.

"He’s loved to bring his flavour to the England team and learning as well, so it’s not just one way traffic… he couldn’t have spoken more highly and endorsed it," Fleming said.

"He was a bit heartsore about losing the position, no doubt about it but he was also very encouraging about the opportunity that this presented to me."

The hope is their relationship will help with balancing resources, players and scheduling for the test, ODI and T20 cricket teams.

"It’s nice to be able to have that friendly face with that professional slant to be able to achieve hopefully some great things."

Fleming is still confirming who his coaching team will be and didn’t share details.

“I’m a little bit older than him (McCullum) so I’ll still be able to get the key guys although he’s now saying he got more experience so I’m second fiddle so we’ve got a little bit of a battle."

When asked if he considered contributing to New Zealand cricket, Fleming said it’s "always a consideration" but the England role was what was on offer.

"No, they’re too good. They’re set, they’re doing so well," he said about the Black Caps, adding he has the "utmost respect" for what New Zealand has achieved and the players, many of whom he knows well.

Fleming missed England’s recent test series against Pakistan because of commitments back home and still has on obligation to fulfil commentating some upcoming T20 matches when India visits New Zealand for a tour, but he feels he’s now in a position "to give it everything".

His first test series as coach is in December when England head to South Africa across December and early January.

Some people have questioned Fleming’s experience for coaching test cricket after 18 years in the Indian Premier League, but he sees this as a homecoming.

"My DNA was playing in the whites and captaincy and the challenges and the rewards that came through having a great opportunity to captain New Zealand for so long so I was brought up in the red ball and learned the white ball.

"Franchise cricket’s been a big part of my life but the deep passion is really test cricket."

He says his planning and style is better suited to the longer form of the game, referencing how test cricket has more "substance and strategy".

"We are one of the only sports still that is captained from the inside out so making sure that Joe Root and the other leaders are well equipped."

He wants to focus on increasing the team’s cricket ‘smarts’ so they can adapt better in the tough times, he says.

Fleming says that’s what he finds "great fun".

"That’s strategy, that’s creating an identity piece, a belonging piece, some standards, and making sure that as a team no matter who you represent, that you’re representing it well."

He says he learnt about the importance of that when captaining the Black Caps and brings those skills to the English team as coach.

When asked if the laid-back Kiwi attitude was the right fit for England Cricket right now, he said that’s a question for the England and Wales Cricket Board and the UK is used to international coaches with dominant sports such as football.

Fleming said the mentality of coaches from New Zealand is a significant attribute.

"We don’t have the resource that other bigger countries have, that’s not just in cricket, so what we do is we look outside the square and we squeeze everything we can out of the stone to make sure that we can compete on the world stage, that’s our DNA, that number 8 wire DNA that we pride ourselves on."

He said that leads to coaches that look at situations differently and treat relationships with importance “because you can’t burn them in New Zealand if you haven’t got much resource.”

In turn, the focus is on what can be controlled such as building a strong culture "and living it because it has to be that way".

His vision is for England to be the best test cricket team in the world.

"It is a challenge, it’s the pinnacle, there’s a lot of attention on this role in England and media has been talked about and that’s it’s all part and parcel of being in the privileged position of it.

"But yeah, I am confident there is room to move around and the cultural piece and that sense of belonging that these players are wanting to do."

On recent criticism of McCullum’s time at the helm, he said it was "quite remarkable" what the former coach and former captain Ben Stokes achieved over a two-year period when the aggressive style of play termed ‘Bazball’ was introduced. The positive thinking mentality and change in style turned a struggling England into a success story with the focus on players being fearless when making tactical decisions.

"It culturally changed the cricket landscape, it was amazing some of the performances they… started with New Zealand actually when they (beat) New Zealand on a tour here and it was really a stand up and take notice moment and the courage that both of those leaders had to do that was immense so I have huge respect towards that.”

He believes there’s been an evolution in the game where from setting those standards, other teams have now caught up which led to the plan being "challenged" at the end of their partnership.

Fleming says he feels a responsibility to drive test cricket when it faces pressure from the shorter formats of the game which is usually more explosive and fast-paced for fans to watch.

"We have a responsibility to entertain and play the game well."

He says he hasn’t thought about what it will be like competing against his old team, the Black Caps.

"Thankfully there’s two more years to get some performances under the belt and then we’ll come across that, but it will be a good battle."

Fleming says the off-field late night incidents the English team has been involved in have been "disappointing".

He says there’ll be an education process to lift standards and sees captain Root, the 35-year-old who previously captained the team between 2017 and 2022 as an example for others to learn from, and aspire to be like.

"Very similar to Kane Williamson where they epitomise everything great about how you conduct yourself by still being a great player.

"There’s work to be done."

He won’t be setting any more midnight curfews.

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