Joe Root says England must play ‘smarter’ Test cricket, hails Fleming appointment as coach

Joe Root says that England must play “smarter” Test cricket after agreeing to resume his role as captain alongside new head coach Stephen Fleming.

Root was reappointed skipper this week as Ben Stokes’ replacement, four years after he stood down from the role after admitting he had been burned out by the pressure of leading the team in 64 Tests.

The 35-year-old will lead England in the forthcoming three-Test series against Pakistan, the nation’s first matches since Stokes resigned in dramatic fashion midway through the defeat to New Zealand at Trent Bridge in June.

Root will also lead the team in the away series against South Africa in December — where Fleming will also assume his responsibilities for the first time — and Bangladesh in February. He will then lead England in the one-off 150th anniversary Test against Australia in March, and will be in charge for next summer’s home Ashes series.

Stokes led England to notable victories with an ultra-attacking brand of cricket, developed in conjunction with coach Brendon McCullum, but results and performances have declined more recently.

In an interview with the ECB website, Root was keen to pay tribute to Stokes, one of his closest friends, but acknowledged that the team would need to reassess its approach under Fleming.

“Those four years were the most fun I’ve had in professional cricket,” Root said about the ‘Bazball’ era. “We did a lot of amazing things. The shift in mindset that was created around how we want to play the game, Strip the fear away form things, make sure guys feel that their talent can come out in big moments in games.

“If we can do that while recognising when is the right time to put pressure back on teams, or when is the right time to soak it up and to maybe play situations slightly differently, become a little bit smarter in certain areas, then we are going to be a very formidable team and a very difficult team to beat.

“The wrong thing to do would be to rip everything up that we’ve done over the last four years. There’s so much good stuff that Ben and Brendon did. It changed the way we look at the game and I have benefited hugely from that as a player. To think that we have to start all over again would be wrong but there are certain areas we want to sharpen up a little bit and become a bit sterner with.”

Root also said Fleming’s appointment was a key reason for him wanting to take on the job for a second time.

The New Zealander has never coached a red ball team but has an impressive track record in white ball cricket, and as captain of his country.

“We’ve spoken briefly but he was a big reason why I wanted to do it,” Root said. “I’m very excited by the way he sees the game, where he sees us as a team and the work we have to do to get to where we want to get to. All of that got me very excited about taking this role on.

“He’s got a wealth of experience and done some amazing things as a player and a coach. I hope we can build something pretty special together.”