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Fresh off his stint with the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20, Stephen Fleming is returning to South Africa later this year as head coach of England’s Test team, with his first assignment scheduled at a familiar venue. The England Cricket Board (ECB) announced Fleming as fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum’s replacement on Thursday, marking a continuation of the Kiwi link that started with the former’s appointment in 2022. The ECB said Fleming, who is now in New Zealand with his family, will head to England later this year to begin preparations for the South African tour. The English will face the Proteas in three Tests, starting at the Wanderers, then Centurion, before finishing in Cape Town.Fleming knows South Africa well, having toured the country four times with the Black Caps as a player, captaining them in three of those series and at the World Cup in 2003. Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been appointed as England's new Test coach, with Joe Root returning as captain 🔙 pic.twitter.com/M5DNeEKuFA— Test Match Special (@bbctms) July 30, 2026

More recently his coaching stint with the Joburg Super Kings would have provided insider knowledge of the venues and given him the chance to see the Proteas Test players up close, albeit in a different format. Other than Wiaan Mulder, who worked with Fleming as part of the Joburg and Texas Super Kings, he’s not had any other regular Proteas Test player under his tutelage. Fleming wasn’t always happy with the surfaces the Joburg Super Kings played on at the Wanderers during his four-year stint at the ground, feeling the inconsistency of the pitches worked against his team and was at the root of their struggles in making the venue a fortress.The Joburg franchise made it to the playoffs in each of the SA20’s four seasons but are one of two teams (with the Paarl Royals) that have not qualified for the competition’s final.Yet, Fleming championed the tournament at every turn. “I understand cricket in South Africa was struggling domestically, as were some other countries. The purpose was to help South African cricket get stronger, and they’ve achieved that,” Fleming said at the end of last season.He left the Super Kings franchise on July 13, a day after McCullum was sacked as England’s Test coach. During his tenure as head coach, the Chennai Super Kings won the IPL five times, the last of those in 2023.As a player, Fleming was part of the team that won New Zealand’s only Test in the country in the postisolation era, at the Wanderers in 1994. Individually, Fleming had a good Test record in South Africa. He averaged 46.32 in 11 matches and made his second-highest Test score, 262, at Newlands in 2006. Following Ben Stokes’ sudden retirement in June, Joe Root was named Test captain, a job he is doing for the second time. Root led England on its most recent Test tour to South Africa in 2019/20, overseeing a 3-1 series win. England has an excellent record in South Africa, having won three of the last four series between the teams in this country. South Africa last beat England in a home Test series in 1999.Marcus Trescothick, the former England opener, will be caretaker coach for the team’s three-match series against Pakistan at end- August.Business Day