Stephen Fleming Targets Top Test Ranking for England

Stephen Fleming has made his priority as England's new Test head coach plain: get the side back to number one in the world.

«I would love to be in charge of the number Test team in the world. That would be my aspiration,».

England sit fifth in the rankings and have not topped the Test table since 2012. Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, was appointed in July but only took up the post this month,

He has used his first week in the job to get around the county circuit, watching five Rothesay County Championship matches in three days, and on Saturday was at Emirates Old Trafford to link up with Brendon McCullum, who stays on as white-ball coach. He has also been in regular contact with Test captain Joe Root and director of cricket Rob Key.

Fleming called the head coach's job "one of the most prestigious in cricket" and said the timing suited him, adding there was "more to give" from a squad he rates highly.

He was less upbeat on discipline. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were suspended for the second Test of a 2-1 series loss to New Zealand in June after a nightclub incident, and last month Brydon Carse was handcuffed outside a nightclub in Derby, missing two Tests of the Pakistan series before police closed their investigation without charge. Root described himself as "hacked off" by the run of incidents, and Fleming said that reaction "said it all" about the standard expected of England players. "It's disappointing," he said. "The way that players represent England and the group is going to be really important to me."

Fleming said he has had "a lot of contact" with Root through the Pakistan series, and has also spoken to Stokes since the all-rounder's retirement from international cricket earlier this summer. "Ben's happy and seemed to be really at peace with his decision," he said.

England have never reached a World Test Championship final in four editions and currently lie sixth in that table, a record Fleming wants to put right alongside the push for top spot in the rankings. "England could do much better than that," he said of the WTC. "If that's one of the pinnacle trophies in world cricket, why would we not be trying to get it."

With Ashes and WTC ambitions both in play, how quickly Fleming can settle the dressing-room issues may end up shaping how close England get to either target.