Fleming targets No. 1 Test ranking alongside focus on 'identity'

Incoming men's Test coach Stephen Fleming has laid down his aim to take England to No. 1 in the world and believes the team must change their blasé attitude towards the World Test Championship as part of a necessary identity shift.

Fleming was speaking at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday, ahead of the third and final T20I between England and Sri Lanka. His first media engagement as Test coach comes at the end of what Fleming described as a "tour of love" of the counties, taking in four matches in the penultimate round of the County Championship.

The New Zealander was appointed in July as a replacement to his friend and business partner Brendon McCullum, but only arrived in the country at the start of the week, after the conclusion of England's Test series win over Pakistan.

"It's one of the most prestigious jobs in cricket," Fleming said, having signed a contract through to September 2030 after the ECB's two-week-long recruitment process. "I was very honoured to be asked."

Now fully in charge ahead of his first assignment in South Africa this winter, in-person meetings, including with Test captain Joe Root, a relationship that began over the phone following their respective appointments two months ago, have allowed him to relay his vision. A day after assault charges were dropped against Brydon Carse - he now faces an investigation from the Cricket Regulator - Fleming stated the need to polish England's identity and put the onus on players to drive that change. All with a view to taking the team back to the top of the ICC Test rankings for the first time since 2012.

"I would love to be in charge of the No.1 Test team in the world," Fleming said. "That would be my aspiration.

"I know the marquee events - the Ashes - are something I can't wait for. As a New Zealander, I have watched and loved the Ashes all my cricketing life. To be part of that is an absolute highlight so I can't wait for that. But there is a piece of work there that has already begun which is around our identity. There has been a lot of coverage around that.

"The way players represent England and the group is going to be really important to me. The style of play will come with that also. That will be more player-directed but I feel very strongly about finding a sense of belonging within the group and that will take a bit of time.

"I have started the process. I have been in a lot of contact with Joe and on this trip as well we have done some things to start this piece of work. Not only will we be in the best position to win cricket matches but also to represent the England cricket team in its best form."

Fleming also highlighted England's indifference to the World Test Championship as an attitude he wished to address. England have not come close to making any of the three finals so far, despite hosting them all, and are currently sixth in the 2025-27 cycle ahead of next summer's final at the Kia Oval.

"It's high [on the agenda], it's aspirational," he said of the competition. "England could do much better than that. And even attitude just around the over rate, I think, comes down to identity and style of play.

"If that's one of the pinnacle trophies in world cricket - why would we not be trying to get it along with every other marquee event that comes our way? Now, I don't say that lightly, there's a lot of hard work to do and players must be balanced around that… But it's aspirational and that's why I'm here. That opportunity is real, but there's a huge amount of work to do."

Manchester was Fleming's fifth venue ticked off this week, after visits to Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Durham. It was there at Chester-le-Street where he caught up with former Test captain Ben Stokes. Coy on their conversation, Fleming said it was not his place to enquire if Stokes would overturn his decision earlier this summer to retire from international cricket: "I respect his decision too much. To try to turn that around and question that is wrong."

Fleming's flying visit (he leaves the country next week) has included squeezing in meetings with some county chiefs speaks to a connection he and the ECB are looking to re-establish. For Fleming, there is also a personal element having enjoyed playing spells at Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire - captaining the county to a Championship title in 2005. He also spent time as coach of Southern Brave in the Hundred.

"I have been kissing county coaches' heads, meeting new players, reintroducing myself to players I played with who are now in positions of authority at counties.

"I have a huge respect for county cricket. Those were some of my best cricketing days at Middlesex, Yorkshire and particularly Nottingham. It seems a bit romantic but I stayed in love with the game after a long period of captaincy where I was getting a bit bitter, so I have a deep respect for the county game and what it can offer.

"It is a key part of English cricket so to reconnect, do some miles on the M1 and immerse myself in that over the last three days has been really good. There is some real talent out there and some really good people coaching the talent and [they] seemed really eager for the team to do well."

Fleming's availability for the England job was made easier following the end of a 16-year association with Chennai Super Kings, which coincided with McCullum's sacking.

Fleming describes McCullum as "heart sore" about the nature of his dismissal after the series defeat to New Zealand that followed a dispiriting 4-1 loss in Australia. But the pair discussed the opportunity presented to Fleming, and the challenges McCullum had faced, particularly in a run of seven defeats in his last nine Tests.

Much like when McCullum first took over in 2022, Fleming reckons he is coming into the role at an opportune moment; with talented players there to be pushed on to the next level after 18 months of underperformance and controversy, which Fleming has kept tabs on from afar.

"That was one thing that will probably hurt him [McCullum] a little bit - I think he feels what I feel now, that there's an opportunity around the corner. He was also realistic about what had gone on and just very honest.

"It's interesting when you go to watch as a bystander for the first half of the year, then things change quite quickly to a real narrow focus on where the team was at.

"Was I the right person to take the team forward and then deemed by the ECB to be the right person? That process was very thorough. I was constantly watching the good and the bad and analysing that in a much different way than I would have done in early April.

"One of the dark arts of coaching is timing… my honest appraisal, it's a great time to be the head coach. I think there's a real opportunity with the players coming through."

Fleming also addressed fears he may not be suited to the role given all his experience as a head coach to date has come in T20 franchise cricket. A veteran of 111 Tests for the Black Caps, he was one of the most revered, cerebral captains of his time.

"I am inherently a red-ball lover, and that was where I learned strategy, leadership, captaincy, the nuances of the game," he said. "So that's how I was brought up.

"If anything, I moulded myself into the white-ball world based on man management and strategy and leadership, not necessarily as a white-ball strategist or a player. I'm really looking forward to almost coming back to red-ball cricket and having a little bit more time and, probably more importantly, creating relationships that are a bit more than skin deep.

"And I say that with the greatest respect to the relationships that I've had over my years in franchise cricket, when you just don't have the time. Now to have time to work with a group of players over months and years, really excites me."

On the topic of player behaviour following Carse's incident in Derby - the latest in a string of off-field issues involving England cricketers over the last nine months, including Stokes and Test vice-captain and limited-overs skipper Harry Brook - Fleming admitted progress needs to be made and cited Root as an example to follow.

"I think you acknowledge it's disappointing… There's work to be done. It comes back to that identity piece and just making sure we're tying into something a bit bigger than oneself which can helpfully help on that front.

"If you want an example, a great example of how to behave as an international cricketer, Joe Root is it. So we've got someone right there who exhibits the behaviours we're looking for."