Broad excited at what Fleming can do for Root's captaincy

Stephen Fleming: Stuart Broad excited at what new England Test cricket coach can do for Joe Root's captaincy Sky Sports pundit Stuart Broad on Stephen Fleming-Joe Root relationship: "Where Joe needs a bit of help with his captaincy is taking a bit of weight off his shoulders at times, allowing him to concentrate on batting, make tactical decisions and get feedback throughout to help England out" Saturday 19 September 2026 20:03, UK Sky Sports Cricket's Stuart Broad is excited at what new England Test coach Stephen Fleming can bring to Joe Root's captaincy as the New Zealander prepares for his first assignment in the role in South Africa this winter. Fleming was named as countryman Brendon McCullum's successor in late July but did not lead the side for the recent 3-0 sweep of Pakistan due to family commitments. The 53-year-old recently flew to England for a short trip to chat with ECB officials and Test skipper Root as well as the counties, and was with the national team as they completed a 3-0 T20I whitewash under white-ball coach McCullum in Manchester on Saturday. - Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW - England cricket homepage - news, views and match reports - Listen to latest episode of the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast Fleming - who has never been a head coach in red-ball cricket before but has extensive franchise-league experience, chiefly with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL - spoke to media ahead of the final T20I, including to Michael Atherton for the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. Broad said after listening to former New Zealand captain Fleming's chat with Atherton, in which he lauded Root: "What struck me was his love of leadership. "He spoke a lot about that and strategy rather than really intricate coaching, so I am assuming he will pass a lot of the technique coaching on to his bowling coach, batting coach etc, which is what they are there to do. 'Root needs feedback Fleming will give him' "I think what excites me is him working with Root's captaincy. "Fleming was a good captain and has worked a lot with MS Dhoni at Chennai. He has learnt about tactical stuff on the field and how to manage changing rooms as well. "Where Joe needs, or would like, a bit of help with his captaincy is taking a bit of weight off his shoulders at times, allowing him to just concentrate on his batting, make some tactical decisions and get feedback throughout the game to help England out. "Joe hasn't naturally got a bowling attack that will feed back a lot of tactical advice so I think he needs that. "As a coach you are very reliant on your captain. Fleming has had a very good one in Dhoni and maybe not quite clicked with others he tried to have success with. "But the way he talked about Root, I imagine he will click with him." Broad does not view this being Fleming's first red-ball head coach role as an issue. "He loved playing the game, he loves studying and coaching the game, so you love all formats," said the former England seamer. "He made his name in Test match cricket and I have no doubt he has watched and been around current players." 'England need leaders to start winning Test series' When Ben Stokes quit internationals at the end of the 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand earlier this summer, there were few options to replace him as captain besides Root - who first led England between 2017 and 2022 - and white-ball skipper Harry Brook. Broad says a key part of Fleming's remit is to develop more leaders as England look to return to the peak of Test cricket, having not won any of the four five-match series they played against either Australia or India in the Bazball era. The pundit added: "Fleming has a group that is exciting but England have also lost a lot of cricket over the last 18 months, so he has some moulding to do. "A big problem for this team has been the lack of leaders and you can see it on the field. "I don't really mind a lack of leaders to choose as captain when you have Root and Brook as options but on the field there has been a stark problem. "Fleming has noticed that and will focus on that. He will drop nuggets of information in consistently throughout to try and build leadership. We need leaders to start winning Test series." Watch the first one-day international between England and Sri Lanka, in Durham, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 12pm Tuesday (first ball 12.30pm). Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.