England vs Pakistan first Test at Headingley, post-Bazball era begins as Joe Root returns to the England captaincy, coach Stephen Fleming as new coach

Welcome to England’s sensible era.

When the first ball is bowled at Headingley on Wednesday night Australian time, Bazball will officially be dead and buried.

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The Stephen Fleming era will not yet be underway as the former New Zealand captain waits until England’s tour of South Africa later this year to officially take the reins, but Joe Root’s second act as England captain begin.

After four years of chaos under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, some humility and a return to old-fashioned values in this three-Test home series against Pakistan is set to provide comfort to fans in the Old Dart who have been unusually quiet this week.

Australia’s loss to Bangladesh in Darwin would typically be a carcass in which cricket mad Englishmen and women would love to feast.

But there has only been the odd barb fired the way of Pat Cummins’ side.

For Bangladesh maiden Test win in Australia was built on the principles that had stood the almost 150 years since the first ever Test match.

Bangladesh’s batters grinded Australia’s famous bowling attack into the dirt with solid defence and patience to wait for opportunities to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

They never forced the issue, and their lower order placed an enormous price on their wickets to keep the Australians out in the field for as long as possible.

In the end, Cummins’ men spent 138 overs, across six sessions, chasing leather.

It was right out of the play book India used to win back-to-back series in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21, but it was still a longer stint at the crease than either India or England managed across the last two Australian summers.

In fact, England only lasted more than 100 overs once in their 4-1 Ashes defeat – in the fourth innings in Adelaide in a case of too little too late.

And Bangladesh’s vigil lasted almost as long as the entirety of the Perth and Melbourne Tests.

The scars of Bazball are why England has largely avoided rubbing salt into Australian wounds.

They know they have a lot of work to do.

After losing to New Zealand earlier this northern hemisphere summer and drawing with India last year, England have not won a home series in two years.

They have only won two of their last ten Tests and those two victories – at the MCG and Lord’s – came on disgraceful that pitches that reduced those matches into a lottery.

As former England captain Michael Vaughan put it in a recent column in The Telegraph, “we’re in a bit of a mess”.

But the overwhelming verdict among greats of the game on either side of the Ashes divide is that there is light at the end of the tunnel for this England team.

Their optimism will almost certainly be buoyed by Australia’s Darwin debacle which proved the naysayers before last summer’s Ashes right, that this ageing team is vulnerable.

England will be hoping that Cummins and co arrive in the Old Dart on their last legs after a marathon 12 months with at least 20 Tests on the Australians’ calendar.

And they new regime is under no illusions that winning back the urn for the first time in more than a decade is priority one, two and three.

“Brendon McCullum got sacked because his players didn’t perform in the Ashes,” former England fast bowler Steve Harmison told TalkSport.

“There was a lot of other things to do with it from a preparation point of view. So, I think it’s important that Fleming gets what he needs to get the preparation right for the Ashes because that’s what it’s all about, the Ashes.”

England’s shortcomings in Australia stemmed from poor planning and poor preparation.

They are the types of fundamentals that Fleming has nailed in lengthy time as a T20 franchise coach.

The IPL and other domestic T20 leagues around the globe can be notoriously volatile, but the fact the Kiwi spent 17 seasons with the Chennai Super Kings shows he must know what he is doing.

Fleming’s longevity with the IPL franchise was certainly helped by the fact he led Chennai to five titles from nine finals across his two stints with the club.

Plus, in his early days at the helm, Chennai twice won the Champions League T20 under Fleming when the competition was still in existence.

“Fleming knows how to handle the modern player, guys who can earn more in one franchise gig than we did playing a whole summer for England. They are a different breed now and need to be handled accordingly,” Vaughan wrote in his column.

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Underpinning all that success was Fleming’s relationship with Indian legend MS Dhoni.

There was no doubting who’s show it was in Chennai as Dhoni was the front man.

But Fleming was the drummer in the band ensuring that everything went according to plan.

Now, Root has the chance to take on the Dhoni role despite concerns about him taking on the captaincy again.

The 35-year-old has already led his nation 65 times – more than any other Englishman.

And he handed over the reins to Stokes four years ago because the captaincy had drained him.

England won just one of the last 17 Tests the Yorkshireman was permanent skipper for.

It was dire and after an incredible resurgence during the Bazball years, it seems like a big risk to place the responsibility back on Root’s shoulders.

“That surprised me a little bit,” Australian legend Adam Gilchrist told foxsports.com.au of Root’s reappointment.

“A bit surprised that Joe would feel inclined to go back into the captain’s position given the way it all finished for him as captain and what he’s been able to do since then.

“Maybe they didn’t feel they had a ready made candidate at this point in time. So, good on him for taking it on for his country.”

Gilchrist’s concerns have been reiterated by many given he has piled on 4,225 runs in the last four years, ticking off milestones like finally scoring a century in Australia to have Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record in his sights.

Root is 1,807 runs shy of Tendulkar’s tally of 15,921 Test runs.

Many have feared the captaincy will stop him from getting there.

Harry Brook was Stokes’ vice-captain and leads England’s white-ball sides.

But was passed over off the back of a nightclub incident with a bouncer in New Zealander last year.

Stokes queried why his understudy was not elevated to the lead role in his chat with former teammates Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast.

England managing director Rob Key explained the decision by saying the hierarchy felt “it was the right time for [Joe Root] and he’s the right man”.

“Brook’s time will come. He’s done a brilliant job. He’s taken the T20 team to number one in the world,” Key added.

While former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Brook will need to be hit between the eyes.

“One of the things in [Fleming’s] in-tray will be to sit with Harry Brook and actually say, ‘we’ve had to [give the captaincy] to someone that may not actually want to do it’,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.

“The lad that will do anything for English cricket in Joe Root is doing it again for English cricket because we couldn’t trust you to do the job.

“Sort yourself out, Harry, because I think you should be the next England Test cricket captain.”

The plan will most likely be for Brook to succeed Root after the 2027 Ashes.

But for the meantime, former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who worked with Root during his time as Yorkshire coach, believes the right call has been made.

“I think it will rejuvenate Joe Root,” Gillespie, who will once again be taking a tour group to England for next year’s Ashes, told foxsports.com.au.

“It allows Harry Brook to just focus on his batting in Test cricket while he’s got that workload of being a leader in one day and T20 cricket.

“And I think it will give Joe another focus on top of his batting.

“I think it’s good for English cricket.

“The fact they’ve got a bit of cricket before the Ashes will give Fleming and Root time to settle into their roles as leaders.

“It’s going to make exciting viewing come next year.”

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With England’s Bazball approach, the last two Ashes series contained an intriguing battle of ideologies.

Root has said that his side will still play aggressive cricket with the bat despite Australia landing a knockout blow down under.

But with Australia’s batters faltering, and the composition of their top order unknown, it may be when England are in the field next Ashes series that is the most fascinating.

Fleming has been a data-driven, well-planned tactician on the T20 circuit.

That is one of the reasons why McCullum has said on several occasions that his replacement is “like me, but better”.

Fleming was also a tinkerer and improviser when New Zealand skipper.

He oversaw a 0-0 three-Test series draw away from home against Steve Waugh’s mighty Australian team in 2001.

Bad weather impacted the first two Tests in Brisbane and Hobart, but Fleming’s team came ten runs shy of chasing 284 in 57 overs at the Gabba following a sporting declaration by Waugh to make a game of it.

Then in the final Test in Perth, Fleming’s side made the Australians bat for 110 overs in the last innings to avoid defeat.

One of the standout memories of that series was that Fleming had clearly done his homework.

He placed fielders to block up prolific scoring areas and force the Australians to do something different.

He will surely bring that same nous to the England role.

“I’ve got the utmost respect for him. He’s a quality person, a fine thinker of the game and an outstanding tactician as a captain,” Gilchrist told foxsports.com.au.

“Just a really sensible, matter of fact guy. I don’t think there’s really too much outrageous creativity, but through deep thought he does have a creative component there.

“I guess the fact all his coaching has been all around T20 (could be a challenge), but that doesn’t mean it can’t be transferred.

“It’s about man management and he has over 100 Test matches of his own playing experience to know the landscape of Test match cricket.”

Meanwhile, Gillespie believes Fleming is not one to overhaul the team, but to adjust the things that have not been working.

“I think it’s a very good appointment. Stephen Fleming is a very good tactician, a very good strategic coach and very good man manager. He’ll get the best out of this England side,” Gillespie told foxsports.com.au.

“There’s been criticisms in recent times with Brendon McCullum in charge, but let’s not forget about some of the good things they’ve done.

“The criticisms have been that they haven’t adjusted or adapted their games when the game has dictated it. Maybe that’s just the little thing that Stephen Fleming can bring to this squad – that situational awareness and adjustments to game plans when those situations present themselves.”

The idea that this has been a wasted English summer has certainly been prevalent ever since Stokes retired and the McCullum was sacked as Test coach – although, he remains white ball boss.

But even without Fleming – assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will fill-in as interim coach – the Pakistan series could not be more ideal to turn a new page.

Pakistan have not won a Test match away from home in three years.

They have not won a Test series either since they spun out England at home almost two years ago.

Pakistan are a chaotic team too and that means they cannot be discounted – no one would have predicted Bangladesh to stun Australia.

But what is for certain across these three Tests at Headingley, Lord’s and Edgbaston is a more sensible England.

There will be no day one declarations.

Surely no two-day Tests.

No more curfews.

Fielding will again be important.

Draws may even be on the cards.

There is a little bit of madness with Ben Duckett, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson all having played in The Hundred final less than two-and-a-half days before the first Test.

And former Australian batter turned England selector Marcus North picking a 16-player squad for the first two Tests of a home series shows that the team is not settled.

But if the chosen XI plays in the image of their captain, belief will grow that they can defeat Australia next year, or as Vaughan put it: “None of this is rocket science, just good, hard Test cricket, and playing the situation.”

“If Root can persuade his team to do that, they will find themselves back on track soon.”