Brook's time as England Test captain will come - Brendon McCullum

England's white-ball head coach Brendon McCullum has thrown his weight behind the team's ODI and T20I skipper Harry Brook, stating that his time as the Test captain will come. Until the recent Test series against New Zealand where McCullum was still England's red-ball head coach and Ben Stokes was captain, Brook was on vice-captaincy duties. Yet, when Stokes was suspended for the second Test following an internal investigation for a breach of curfew, the leadership role was handed to Joe Root.

ECB decided to give Root a second chance at the helm rather than looking to Brook in the wake of that series loss and Stokes' decision to retire.

However, McCullum agreed with Stokes that Brook should be the captain of the Test team, and the 27-year-old.

McCullum stated to Sky Sports, "Everyone knows the affection that I have for Harry." "He's a fantastic player and an excellent white-ball leader. I think his time will come in the Test job.

"I'm looking forward to working with him and hopefully helping him become the leader he can be. He will play a crucial role in that capacity at some point in the future. But for now, Joe will do an amazing job," McCullum opined.

After a four-year tenure that began and ended in a home series against New Zealand, ECB has appointed Stephen Fleming as England's new Test coach, with McCullum continuing as the ODI and T20I coach. McCullum lavished praise on his fellow New Zealander, who will soon take his place where he left off.

"I had a great time in my four years but now it's going in a different direction, I think Flem will be excellent," McCullum said. "He's a little bit like me, but better – that's how I would sum him up. He'll do a great job, and the ECB have done incredibly well to get someone like him to commit to English cricket for the period that he has. It's an outstanding achievement."

Fleming and McCullum also have a close friendship, and Fleming believes they will look forward to preparing England cricket for success in all three formats.

"We are close friends, and we talk almost every day. We've done a lot together and he's one of those guys who I trust completely. Both of us simply want the best for English cricket.

"We want to set this up so that English cricket can be successful across all three formats of the game. That is going to take some give and take at times, we both understand that, but we will work very closely together and give everyone the best opportunity to get the success that we all want to see," McCullum added.

England's next Test assignment - against Pakistan at home in August-September, will have Marcus Trescothick essaying the coaching duties before Fleming takes over for the tour of South Africa in December 2026.