Root says incoming coach Fleming was in daily contact during England’s Leeds Test win
Joe Root said on 21 August 2026 that incoming England head coach Stephen Fleming had been in daily contact during England’s first Test victory over Pakistan at Leeds, a match England won by an innings and 103 runs.
Root celebrated a commanding start to his latest reign as England’s Test captain after the win and confirmed Fleming, who does not take up his role until after the Pakistan series, had been in touch throughout the week. “It’s been great to have [him] on the end of the phone,” said Root. “It’s great that he’s very invested already in what we’re trying to achieve.”
England’s bowlers dominated the contest, with Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue taking eight wickets apiece across the match. Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence, both returning to the XI, scored half-centuries to bolster England’s batting effort.
Root praised the bowling unit’s depth and cohesion, saying: “The quality that we have within the team and our bowling group – I don’t really think they understand how good they are and how well they complement each other and in these conditions what they’re capable of doing.” He added: “It’s really nice for them to see that and to start the series like that.”
On individual batting contributions, Root singled out Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence. “Jordan at 3 looked very calm, very composed, very comfortable within his own game in those conditions. Great to see, great to bat with. Dan as well, the way he dovetailed with [Harry Brook], played in his own way, was brilliant.”
The victory extended England’s run to seven consecutive Test wins at Headingley, a sequence that began with an innings win against Pakistan in 2018. Root expressed disappointment that the ground will not host men’s Test cricket in 2027 and 2028 and said: “I’d love to play as many games as possible here. It’s a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket and one that we’ve had quite a lot of success in recently. So it’s a shame that we don’t get to play here next year. But I’m sure we’ll see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”
Pakistan’s stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha addressed the injured Babar Azam’s availability for the next match, saying: “I’m more than happy to hand the captaincy to him,” and: “Hopefully he’ll be fine. He’s our best batter so we definitely want him and to hand him the captaincy.” The second Test is scheduled to be played at Lord’s.