London, July 31 (IANS) Rob Key, the Managing Director of England men’s cricket team, said Stephen Fleming is the best person right now to take the Test team forward, adding that the former New Zealand skipper’s vast experience and tactical acumen make him the ideal candidate to guide a transitioning side.
Fleming will take charge from England’s tour of South Africa, with Marcus Trescothick to be the interim head coach for the Tests against Pakistan, starting on August 19. “Again, with the process, I was clear that one of the stipulations wasn’t going to be that he had to be in for that Pakistan series because that would have narrowed the field. My job was to go out there and get the very best person we could and I felt that was Stephen Fleming.
“A month ago, this probably wasn’t on his radar, so a lot has happened in a very short space of time. He’s got a lot of life events and things going on at the moment and going into the next little bit, but he’ll be over at some stage this summer and we’ll start planning and working out the intricacies, the ins and outs of everything we’re going to do to try and have a sustained period of success,” said Key to Sky Sports News on Friday.
Asked on the decision to appoint Fleming, who’s coming off coaching Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, as England’s Test coach and take over from Brendon McCullum, Key stated, “I think, what, it feels like, what was it, a month ago, where we decided that we needed to go and try and find another test coach, so it was really about, the first thing was trying to work out, what do I think this Test team needs? What do I think this Test team needs to go forward?
“I felt it was really important that it wasn’t a pivot all the way to the other side. Brendon McCollum and Ben Stokes, when they came in four years ago, I said we needed to change the mentality of English cricket after a really tough time. They did that brilliantly.
“Clearly, over the last few months, it didn’t quite go to plan, so it was all about just trying to find someone who was along the same lines of what they’d been doing, all the good stuff that Ben and Brendan had done, not too far the other way, and I feel that Stephen Fleming is exactly that.”
Dismissing concerns over Fleming’s lack of red-ball coaching experience, especially having primarily coached Chennai Super Kings in the IPL for 18 years, Key insisted that his pedigree as an ex-international captain and strategist remains unmatched.
“I think he’s one of the most experienced coaches amongst international cricketers now for the last 18 years. You think about that job that he’s done in the IPL, and you do not forget Test cricket, how to go about it, how to play it with the career that he had as a player, and more importantly, as a captain as well.
“It’s not like for the last 18 years, whilst he’s been in the IPL, he’s not been across test cricket. We’ve had dealings in the past when our players have gone to Chennai, and they’ve all spoken so highly. I’ve not met anyone that hasn’t spoken highly about Stephen Fleming as a coach, so I think he’s hugely experienced not only in the franchise world, but also in dealing with international cricketers, and dealing with Test cricket in particular.”
Key also backed Fleming to nurture England’s young and developing bowling attack, which is undergoing a major transition after losing veterans like James Anderson and Stuart Broad. “I think he will be able to get the best out of the players that we have, so they can go out there and make good, right decisions, adapt to the conditions, go out there, play a Test innings, that is required for you to go and win that Test match.
“The same with the bowling attack. This is a team now that has lost an entire generation of cricketers, bar Joe Root. He’s the last of that generation left. We’ve had to rebuild the bowling attack. They’ve lost over a thousand wickets in the last few years, and there is so much potential there.
“I believe Stephen Fleming is the best person to get the basics bowlers running in consistently hitting a line and length with all of that potential, all the attributes that they have. I think it’s so exciting on what he can bring to the team,” he concluded.
–IANS
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