England takes its first steps into the post-Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum era when it faces Pakistan in a three-match Test series beginning on Wednesday, August 19, with the returning Joe Root taking over as captain.
England has already confirmed Stephen Fleming as its new head coach, but the New Zealander will not take charge until the team’s tour of South Africa in December. Fleming will spend time with his family after leaving the Super Kings group, meaning batting coach Marcus Trescothick will serve as interim head coach for this series.
England has also named an extended 16-man squad for the first two Tests, giving the selectors an opportunity to assess a wider group of players ahead of the South Africa tour and next year’s Ashes.
The series against Pakistan will therefore offer an early glimpse into the direction England takes after six years of Stokes and McCullum’s aggressive approach.
Here are the five major questions facing England.
Replacing Stokes the player
The most immediate question England must answer is how it copes with the absence of Ben Stokes the player.
Stokes was a genuine all-rounder, capable of contributing as a frontline batter and a pace bowler. While his returns with the bat had diminished in recent times, his ability to influence a Test with either discipline made him difficult to replace.
The most obvious like-for-like option in England’s recent squads would have been Rehan Ahmed, who can bat in the top order and bowl leg-spin. However, he has been left out of the squad, as has Craig Overton, another player who had been considered as an option.
For this series, England appears set to replace Stokes with an additional batter and bowler. Dan Lawrence, a batter who can also provide some off-spin, has already been confirmed as Stokes’ replacement in the batting order. The final place in the bowling attack could come down to a choice between Shoaib Bashir and an additional seamer.
The biggest unknown is Sam Curran. Selector Marcus North has described Curran as a “player of interest”, and the all-rounder theoretically offers many of the same skills as Stokes. However, he has not played a Test since 2021.
Curran also missed out on the squad for the first two Tests after a niggle limited him to part of The Hundred as a specialist batter. He could, however, come into contention for the third Test.
Managing England’s fast-bowling stocks
Another major challenge for Root will be managing England’s fast bowlers, particularly Jofra Archer.
One of the criticisms levelled at Root during his first stint as captain was his tendency to overuse Archer. The fast bowler did not play a single Test between 2021 and 2024, but after returning under Stokes, he became a regular presence in the side as England carefully managed his workload.
Since his return against India in July 2025, Archer has taken 27 wickets at an average of 27.25.
Ensuring Archer does not shoulder too much of the workload will be crucial for Root, particularly in a series that begins only two days after The Hundred final.
Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, the presumptive second and third pacers, both have their own injury histories and were involved in The Hundred final for Manchester Super Giants. That could increase the chances of Sam Cook, Brydon Carse or Matthew Fisher being asked to fill the fourth seamer’s role.
England will need to balance the desire to field its strongest attack with the longer-term need to keep its fast bowlers fit.
Can Root handle the captaincy again?
Root’s return to the captaincy brings another obvious question: can he lead England without allowing the pressures of the job to affect his batting?
Root became one of the world’s leading Test batters during his first spell as captain, particularly in 2021, when he scored 1,708 runs at an average of 61, including six centuries.
But the demands of captaincy eventually took a toll. The COVID-19 period brought particularly difficult tours of Australia and India, and Root spoke openly about the emotional strain he experienced before stepping down.
Under Stokes and McCullum, however, Root appeared liberated from those pressures and took his batting to another level. In the 43 Tests he played under the pair, he scored 3,331 runs at an average of 48.98.
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That transformation was one of the arguments against handing Root the captaincy again when England needed a replacement for Stokes.
The new England management will therefore have to find a way to ensure that Root can lead without returning to the burden that affected him during the latter stages of his first tenure.
What will England’s new philosophy look like?
Perhaps the biggest question facing England is philosophical.
For six years, the team committed itself almost completely to attacking cricket under Stokes and McCullum. The approach produced some memorable results, but its limitations became increasingly apparent as England struggled to sustain it against the best opposition.
Many of the key players in this squad, including Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, have played all or most of their Test cricket under Stokes and McCullum. Their games have, to varying degrees, been shaped by that attacking philosophy.
England is therefore unlikely to make a complete switch to attritional Test cricket. Doing so would risk ignoring the strengths of the players it has developed over the past six years.
The challenge is to find a middle ground: retain the aggression that has become part of England’s identity while adding greater flexibility and a willingness to adapt to match situations.
Pakistan will provide an immediate test of whether England can make that adjustment.
Can the new-look England make the transition?
This series is more than the beginning of a new captaincy. It is the first competitive test of England’s transition from the Stokes-McCullum era to whatever comes next.
Trescothick will oversee the Pakistan series before Fleming takes charge in December. Root will lead a side containing several players whose Test careers have been shaped by the Stokes-McCullum era.
That makes the three Tests against Pakistan an important starting point, even if the full shape of England’s next era will take much longer to emerge.
England squad for first two Tests against Pakistan
Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
Published on Aug 19, 2026
