Richard Dawson, Glamorgan’s outgoing head coach, has joined England’s elite spin‑bowling unit and will also be part of the red‑ball coaching staff. Marcus Trescothick remains on the set‑up after overseeing a 3‑0 Test series win against Pakistan as interim head coach in the summer.
Brendon McCullum, who was dismissed as Test coach in July but continues across the white‑ball formats ahead of next year’s 50‑over World Cup, is keeping a familiar back‑room team. He will again work with former New Zealand teammates Jeetan Patel and Tim Southee, alongside Sarah Taylor and Kevin Pietersen, who will act as a specialist mentor.
The appointments were confirmed on Monday by England Men’s managing director Rob Key, who also announced that Mike Yardy will become the elite national batting lead. Dawson will handle spin bowling, while Troy Cooley remains fast‑bowling lead; the new roles aim to refine talent in English domestic cricket and expand the pool of world‑class international players.
Key explained that the split coaching teams are designed to give both Fleming and McCullum “the team [around you] that you think can deliver success”. For Fleming, this has meant relying on connections forged during his time in the IPL.
Former South Africa head coach Eric Simons will leave Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to take up his England role after eight years working alongside Fleming. James Foster, the former Essex and England wicket‑keeper, also served CSK as fielding coach in the 2026 season.
Dawson, who had applied for the England head‑coach job, will step down from Glamorgan, where he helped secure promotion to Division One of the County Championship in 2025 and kept the county in the top flight this year. “Our gain is Glamorgan’s loss,” Key said, praising Dawson’s work in county cricket. Dawson added, “It’s a decision I haven’t made lightly, and an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Foster’s inclusion in Fleming’s Test set‑up means Sarah Taylor will step back from the role she held across formats this summer. Taylor had worked with Jamie Smith on standing up to the stumps for seam bowling, notably aiding Ollie Robinson during the Pakistan series.
Key stressed that white‑ball cricket will be a “big priority” for England in the coming months, with the 2027 World Cup in South Africa the next major target. He noted that the T20I squad’s rise to No. 1 in the ICC rankings is evidence of Taylor’s success within McCullum’s set‑up.
Beyond Pietersen’s white‑ball batting role, Key said there would be no specific designations attached to the coaching appointments. This approach, he added, is intended to avoid “pigeonholing” coaches and to improve their chances of eventually moving into the top job.
The shortage of outstanding English coaching talent had been a point of criticism when the ECB searched for McCullum’s successor. However, Key believes the narrative is shifting after appointing Jonathan Trott to the England Lions role following his work with Afghanistan.
“There’s a number of coaches in our game that would have an opportunity in the future to coach England,” Key said. “These are the guys that have been in our set‑up a little bit. They’ve come through the system – whether it’s Under‑19 cricket or Jonathan Trott doing the Lions – we’ve got the best of what this country has to offer so far. So it’d be a great experience for them.”
Test coaching set‑up: Stephen Fleming (head), Richard Dawson, Marcus Trescothick, James Foster, Eric Simons
White‑ball coaching set‑up: Brendon McCullum (head), Sarah Taylor, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee, Kevin Pietersen (specialist mentor)