Stephen Fleming convinced Joe Root to return as England Test captain
Joe Root was reportedly not keen on becoming England's permanent Test captain when the opportunity first emerged. According to his father, Matt Root, it was the arrival of Stephen Fleming as England's new Test head coach that changed his mind.
Root initially accepted the captaincy on an interim basis for the Trent Bridge Test against New Zealand. When his father asked whether he would take the job permanently if offered, Root reportedly said no.
That changed after Fleming joined the England setup.
“I think he's impressed with Stephen Fleming. Him coming in as head coach I think has motivated Joe to get involved.”
The combination of Fleming's coaching approach and Root's experience appears to have convinced the former England captain that returning to the leadership role was worthwhile.
Carse incident has added to Root's workload
Root's return has not been entirely straightforward. After England's first-Test victory over Pakistan, the captain was forced to deal with the fallout from Brydon Carse's latest drinking-related incident.
Matt said his son spent roughly four hours on the phone on August 23 attempting to sort out the situation.
The frustration, according to his father, comes from Root wanting players to take responsibility for their own behaviour rather than requiring the captain to constantly deal with off-field problems.
“He doesn't want to be doing that, he wants to be focusing on the on-field stuff.”
Tendulkar record now in sight
Root also has a huge personal milestone approaching.
He currently has 14,180 Test runs, leaving him 1,741 runs short of Sachin Tendulkar's record 15,921. He has also matched Tendulkar's tally of 68 Test fifties.
At 35, Root therefore has two major challenges running simultaneously: rebuilding England's Test fortunes under Fleming and potentially becoming the highest run-scorer in Test history.
A particularly interesting comparison would be Root's captaincy numbers before and after his return, alongside his Test record under Fleming.
