Stephen Fleming's Obsession with the Ashes: A New Era for England
Stephen Fleming walked into his first media briefing as England’s new Test coach and went straight to the heart of it. Not South Africa in December. Not discipline. Not even Ben Stokes.
Australia. The Ashes. The old itch he’s never quite been able to scratch.
“I have an obsession with it as well,” he told BBC Sport when asked if England were too fixated on beating Australia. “New Zealand has an obsession with it, we love it. We want to beat the Aussies.”
The words came with a wry smile, but the intent was clear. A New Zealander who never won a Test against Australia in 14 attempts now finds himself in charge of a nation that hasn’t beaten them in an Ashes series since 2015 and is still nursing the bruises from a 4-1 hammering last winter.
For Fleming, the “little cousin” finally has the keys to big brother’s house.
A different kind of gambler
Fleming replaces his close friend and former team-mate Brendon McCullum, sacked as Test coach earlier this summer after winning only two of his last 10 matches, a run capped by that chastening tour down under. McCullum remains in charge of the white-ball side; the red-ball team is now Fleming’s to reshape.
The two men are business partners and long-time allies, but Fleming was honest about how their instincts diverge.
“I’ll bet on the favourite and he’ll bet on the longest odds possible,” he said, a neat, almost brutal summary of what England can expect next.
Under McCullum and Ben Stokes, England thrilled and infuriated in equal measure. They swung wildly at the game, sometimes without regard for conditions, context or consequence. Part of the criticism was simple: they didn’t adapt. They didn’t always sweat the details.
Fleming wants something else.
“I don’t think [a Test team] should have a brand or style,” he said. “The greatest thing for a team to do is to be able to play conditions and situations.
“I’d love people to say we are well-planned, there’s a discipline and a really strong basic structure to what we’re doing, but there’s also a bit of flair.”
The message was subtle but unmistakable. Less manifesto, more method.
Standards on and off the field
If McCullum’s reign will be remembered for its audacity, it will also be remembered for its noise off the field. Late-night drinking controversies stalked the final months of his tenure and did not disappear with the change of coach.
On Friday, Derbyshire Police confirmed they had closed an investigation into England fast bowler Brydon Carse after allegations of an assault last month. Carse faces no police action, but the Cricket Regulator will now look into the case. He remains eligible for selection, though he has not featured in any England squad since the Derby incident.
Fleming chose his words carefully, but not softly.
“There are standards,” he said. “We pick on runs and wickets primarily, but I think it’s foolish not to also say there are standards that need to be set.
“You need to behave in accordance with your position. We’re in a very privileged position, and it’s understanding that privilege and what goes along with it. It can’t be convenient.”
Then came the line that will echo through dressing rooms.
“You’ve got to live it every day. If we can create something when you want to live it every day and better, then that’s really powerful.”
This is not a coach hiding behind slogans. This is a former captain who knows what happens when standards drift.
No U-turn for Stokes
Fleming has wasted little time immersing himself in English cricket. He was at Old Trafford on Saturday to watch England beat Sri Lanka in the third T20, and earlier in the week he toured counties and met Stokes during Durham’s draw with Worcestershire.
The pair know each other well from their time together at Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. If any man could tempt Stokes out of his abrupt Test retirement in July, it might have been Fleming.
He is not going to try.
“He was in a great space, really happy, enjoying his time with Durham,” Fleming said. “He’s got a good winter planned with the family and is very much at peace with his decision.
“When a player makes that decision to retire, I respect that decision 100%. To try to turn that around and question that is wrong. I know how much goes into that type of decision, and I respect that.”
No emotional tug, no backroom campaign. Stokes stays retired because Stokes chose to, and Fleming will build without him.
Calm authority after the chaos
Almost two months on from his appointment, this was the first real glimpse of what “Flemball” might look like, even if the man himself dismissed the term as a “medical condition.”
He spoke calmly, with the sort of measured authority that suggests he is comfortable being the adult in the room. Those who have worked with him at Chennai tell stories of a coach who can lighten the mood with fancy dress one day and dissect a defeat with forensic detail the next. He hinted at that lighter side when he joked about having a “stress fracture of the left ear” from the volume of calls he has taken since taking the job.
Yet the overriding impression was of someone intent on tightening England up.
He wants a side that respects the World Test Championship, a competition previous England teams treated with something close to indifference. He has already explained his absence from the Pakistan series – family and commercial commitments – and moved quickly to connect with players and counties.
The dynamic with McCullum will be watched closely. One senior figure described it as “big brother” stepping in, a grown-up presence after a freewheeling era. The friendship between the two New Zealanders should ease the split-coaching model that has tripped England up before, but it also throws the contrast into sharper relief.
Where McCullum chased the long odds, Fleming will play the percentages. Where England once tried to bend the game to their will, they may now learn to read it again.
The Ashes in the UK next summer loom over everything. A chance to end a decade without a series win over Australia. A chance, for a New Zealander who never beat them in a Test, to finally get one back on the big cousin.
First comes South Africa in December. That is where Fleming’s England will show whether this obsession with beating Australia is fuel – or just another distraction.
