In an effort to establish himself as the new Test head coach, Stephen Fleming will travel from New Zealand to Manchester to join England’s T20I team. Fleming came to the UK on Monday for a roughly two-week visit that will include organising his backroom team and working with his close friend, business partner, and limited-overs coach Brendon McCullum to address the pull on multi-format players.
Fleming will travel with England’s Twenty20 International team to Manchester, where he will spend the weekend following McCullum for the third Twenty20 International of the home series against Sri Lanka. Starting on September 15, 2026, England will play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Sri Lanka. Harry Brook will captain the team in the limited-overs format. In addition, Brook is the deputy captain of the Test team.
Fleming missed England’s 3-0 victory over Pakistan after taking McCullum’s post as Test coach in July. This week, he will meet with Joe Root to discuss the series and make plans for the Test tour of South Africa in December. In addition, he will visit the counties and meet with other ECB leaders.
On Monday, Fleming was already travelling as part of a preliminary road trip that included a stop at the ECB Performance Centre in Loughborough. Before returning home to provide commentary for Sky on India’s tour of New Zealand, he will accompany McCullum to Manchester over the weekend for England’s third Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka.
Before England’s first Twenty20 International match against Sri Lanka, McCullum stated this to Cricinfo. He said, “He was on the M1 this morning. He was driving around the country making sure he catches up with a few people around the county scene and down at Loughbrough as well and getting around trying to get his feet under the desk. He’ll do that pretty quickly and join up with us in Manchester and we’ll have a good chance to work through a few things.”
Fleming’s window in England is limited to about two weeks because he is also slated to provide commentary for Sky on India’s tour of New Zealand after returning home. The South Africa tour is England’s next significant Test commitment after his comeback, with a three-Test series to come after the Durban tour match in December 2026.
