Root eager to build 'something pretty special' with Fleming

Joe Root, on Saturday, said that newly-appointed head coach Stephen Fleming played a major role in convincing him to return as England's Test captain and is hopeful of building 'something special' alongside the former New Zealand cricketer.

"If I'm being brutally honest, he was a big reason why I wanted to do it," Root told the ECB's official website after assuming Test captaincy again."I'm very excited by the way he sees the game, where he sees us sit as a team and the work that we have to do to get to where we want to get to. All of that got me very excited about taking this role on.

"He's obviously got a wealth of experience and done some amazing things within the game as a player and as a coach. Very much looking forward to the next little while and us trying to build something pretty special together."

Reflecting on taking charge for a second time, Root admitted he feels many of the same emotions he did when he first accepted the role in 2017, but believes his experience has left him much better equipped.

"The unique and nice position I find myself in this time is I've got a wealth of experience in terms of knowing what it takes, knowing what it looks like, having seen success with it and seeing some hard times as well," Root said. "I've got a lot to fall back on and help me and the team moving forward.

"I don't think many captains get that opportunity, certainly not with the amount of games that I have behind me and the experiences that I've had in between."

Root acknowledged he has changed significantly since his first spell as captain ended in 2022. "I'm hugely different," he admitted. "Anyone that says they're the same person they were is probably lying. All of the experiences that you have along the way throughout that period, you're going to be shaped into a slightly different person. And I think that will be very similar in terms of how I want to take this team forward.The 35-year-old also reflected on the challenges of captaining England through the COVID-19 pandemic, admitting the prolonged biosecure environment eventually became too much.

"Everyone knows how hard it was from a personal aspect, but when you're trying to live a professional lifestyle in the professional cricket world where it's very much results-based, you haven't got a consistent team, you're trying to play all three formats,teams taking different priorities, again, just spending vast amounts of time away from your families and loved ones.

"As a team we spent 23 Tests in that environment over a two-year period. That's going to weigh heavily on you. So, to try and manage all that and compete with the two best sides in the world at home and away, in India and Australia, it made it very difficult for us. Clearly we could have been better and we could have performed better, but it got to a point where that got a little bit too much for me, and it was time to step away. As I sit here right now, the world's very different. I'm in a very different place, and I feel very energised and excited about the opportunity that lies ahead."

Despite taking over from Ben Stokes, Root stressed he has no intention of abandoning the culture created under him and former head coach Brendon McCullum. "The wrong thing to do would be to completely rip everything up that we've done over the last four years," Root said.

"There's so much good stuff that Ben and Brendan did. They changed the way that we look at the game and how we see the game, and I've benefited hugely from that as a player.

"There are certain areas that we want to sharpen up a little bit and become a little bit sterner with, but over time hopefully you can see that in the way we play our cricket. The last four years have been the most fun I've had in professional cricket. A big part of that was down to the way they got me to see the game, how I fit into that side and the experiences we created on and off the field.

"I think the thing that stands out the most for me is the shift in mindset that was created around how we want to play the game.Trying to strip the fear away from things, make sure guys feel that they can really just allow their talent to come out as frequently as possible, and in big moments in games.

"Ifwe can do that alongside recognising when the right time is to put pressure back on teams, but when the right time is to soak it up and maybe play situations slightly differently, become a little bit smarter in certain areas, then I think we'll be a very formidable team and a very difficult team to break down and to beat."