Stephen Fleming has approached Mike Hussey to become England’s batting coach, less than a week after being appointed as the new Test head coach. The move, first reported by SEN Cricket’s Tom Morris, signals that Fleming is wasting no time assembling his backroom staff ahead of the winter tour to South Africa.
“Less than a week after winning the England Test role, Stephen Fleming has made contact with Michael Hussey to see if he’d be interested in joining his staff.”
Tom Morris, SEN Cricket/7Cricket, August 5 2026
Less than a week after winning the England Test role, Stephen Fleming has made contact with Michael Hussey to see if he’d be interested in joining his staff. 🏏
Details 👇👉 https://t.co/RSZxQjOFg4@7Cricket @7NewsMelbourne https://t.co/CAgQ36IzZI
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) August 5, 2026
The ECB has not made a formal offer to Hussey. This is Fleming’s personal approach, a head coach reaching out to the man he wants before the board gets involved. Whether the ECB follows through with an official contract remains unclear.
Fleming and Hussey share an eight-year working relationship at Chennai Super Kings. Hussey joined CSK as batting coach in January 2018 and worked under Fleming until the New Zealander stepped down in July 2026 after 18 seasons. Before that, Hussey played under Fleming at CSK from 2009 to 2013 and again in 2015, scoring 2,213 runs from 64 IPL matches at an average of 40.98.
That is not a professional relationship built on interviews and CVs. It is a partnership tested across eight IPL seasons, multiple title runs, and five IPL trophies. Fleming knows exactly how Hussey communicates with batters, how he plans for different conditions, and how he handles pressure situations. When a head coach enters a new setup, that kind of certainty in his support staff is worth more than any open recruitment process.
England Head Coach Stephen Fleming has approached Mike Hussey to become England’s batting coach. (Tom Morris). pic.twitter.com/Jr1cdsaSyl
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 5, 2026
Insider Read:
Fleming is not just hiring a batting coach. He is hiring a Test batter who happened to become a batting coach. That distinction matters. Hussey averaged 51.52 across 79 Tests for Australia. He batted in Adelaide heat, on Headingley seamers, on subcontinent turners. He knows what it takes to build an innings across five sessions, not five overs. Most franchise batting coaches have spent their post-playing careers in T20 environments where the skill set is power hitting, match-ups, and strike rotation. Hussey has that too from CSK. But his foundation is Test cricket, and that is what England need right now. Preparing a batter to face 150 balls on a deteriorating pitch in Centurion is a different conversation than preparing one for a 15-ball cameo in Chennai. Hussey has lived both.
Fleming’s England Coaching Staff Takes Shape
The Hussey approach is not an isolated move. Reports from South African sources indicate Fleming also plans to replace current England bowling coach David Saker with Eric Simons, his long-time bowling coach at CSK. If both appointments go through, Fleming will have transplanted the core of his CSK coaching setup into England’s Test team.
This is a pattern familiar to franchise cricket. When a head coach moves, his trusted staff follows. But it is unusual in international cricket, where coaching appointments typically go through formal board processes with multiple candidates. Fleming appears to be operating with the autonomy the ECB promised him.
CSK have not confirmed the future of their support staff after Fleming’s departure. Hussey and Simons are technically still associated with the franchise, though CSK finished eighth in 2026 and bottom in 2025 without a title in three consecutive seasons. The coaching group that delivered five IPL titles has effectively dissolved.
Hussey is currently head coach of Welsh Fire in The Hundred, where the team sits second in the 2026 standings with four wins and one loss in five games. Reports from late 2025 indicated Welsh Fire want Ricky Ponting to replace Hussey as head coach for the 2027 season. If that happens, Hussey’s schedule opens up considerably.
This would not be Hussey’s first stint with English cricket. In 2022, Matthew Mott brought him in as a batting consultant for England’s T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. England won that tournament. Hussey’s knowledge of Australian conditions was a specific asset then. His knowledge of Test batting across all conditions is the asset now.
Fleming’s first assignment as England head coach is the winter Test tour to South Africa. Marcus Trescothick serves as interim head coach for the three-Test series against Pakistan beginning at Headingley on August 19. Fleming is expected to arrive in the UK later this summer to begin preparations.
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- Ben Stokes Reveals Ambition to Coach England
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- Broad on ECB Test Coach Succession
- Brendon McCullum Removed as England Men’s Test Coach
- Andy Flower England Test Coach Part Time
- Darren Lehmann: ECB Already Decided McCullum Replacement
- Harmison on England Coaching Mess
- Vaughan: ECB Had No Contingency for McCullum
- Alastair Cook Says England Feels Like a Mess
- Rob Key Defends Flintoff Lions Coach Role
- Ben Stokes Retirement
- Maxwell: England Bowling Ranks Are Thin
