Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Stephen Fleming was appointed England Test head coach in July
ByStephan ShemiltCricket Correspondent- Published21 minutes ago
New Zealander Stephen Fleming, England's new Test coach, has suggested the national team should be led by someone from England.
Fleming, who will take charge of his first series in South Africa in December, is the latest overseas coach to lead the England men's team.
Since 1999, only two Englishmen - Peter Moores (twice) and Chris Silverwood - have been in charge of the Test side, while Ashley Giles had a spell as white-ball coach.
In the same time period England have been led by two Zimbabweans, in Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower, and Australian Trevor Bayliss - while Fleming has succeeded his fellow Kiwi Brendon McCullum, who remains white-ball coach. Another Australian, Matthew Mott, also had time in charge of the white-ball team.
Fleming's backroom team, announced last week, is heavily weighted towards homegrown coaches.
Former England opener Marcus Trescothick, who was in interim charge of the Test team earlier this year, is joined by ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster and former spinner Richard Dawson.
Jonathan Trott, an Ashes winner with England, is about to begin a spell in charge of England Lions. Both Trott and Dawson were in the running for the Test job before Fleming was appointed.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former New Zealand captain Fleming said it will be a "priority" of his tenure to help develop English coaches.
"I do believe that primarily the national team should be coached by a national representative," said Fleming.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity, but there will be some development in terms of the coaching, and you can see by our staff."
As well as Fleming and McCullum filling the head coach roles for the men's national teams, England's selector, Marcus North, is Australian.
In September it was announced that another Australian, Leah Poulton, will become the managing director of England women. Between 2020 and 2023 England women's head coach was Lisa Keightley, the former Australia international.
In addition to developing the coaches on his own staff, Fleming said he will also occasionally invite county coaches and former England players into the set-up.
"There are some really key people who have come back into the system and I'm really pleased about that," he said.
"I look forward to working with them, but it is a real focus and it's an ambition as well that you will also get county coaches who will be introduced at certain times and you will get past players that will be asked to come back as well.
"It's really inclusive and a comfortable nature of using what's around, but also driving what should be driven within the county game and the English game."
One of the criticisms of McCullum's four-year spell in charge of the Test team was his lack of time spent around the county game.
In September, Fleming visited some counties and also spoke of his affection for the domestic game in England. The former batter had spells as a player with Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Middlesex.
He confirmed he will spend part of next summer watching county cricket in the build-up to the home Ashes series.
"Yep, I'll be around and I really enjoyed this year getting to catch up," said Fleming. "A lot of the guys I played with are now in positions either coaching or the head positions at counties.
"It was good to catch up with those guys and get a feel for where the county game is at. I really enjoyed it and it will be a key part to continuing developing players."
Fleming was appointed in July, though did not take charge for the series against Pakistan in August and September, meaning his first series at the helm will be the three matches in South Africa in December and January.
The squad for that series is due to be named in the first week of November.
England did not pick a specialist spinner in any of the three Tests against Pakistan, instead fielding four frontline seamers.
In South Africa's ongoing Test against Australia in Gqeberha, the tourists have omitted Nathan Lyon despite the off-spinner sitting sixth on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers with 573.
Last week, Shoaib Bashir was named as the only specialist red-ball spinner on England's list of fully centrally contracted players, while Mason Crane and Liam Patterson-White were given development deals.
Following the tour of South Africa, spin will play a big role on the two-Test tour of Bangladesh in February.
Asked if Bashir's contract means he is England's number-one spinner, Fleming said the Derbyshire man represents "continuity".
"I acknowledge there's a raft of spinners just below that, that at times are putting their hand up," said Fleming.
"There is a raft of spinners there and are probably looking for an opportunity, and finding those conditions, it could be Bangladesh, where there could be two or three that will come along.
"The team could look quite different and that's the horses for courses example.
"But Bashir has got some experience and is still very young. There's an aspect of still looking and developing, and trying to find that right combination in the spin department."
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