India, Aug. 3 -- England have responded to the collapse of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era by turning towards two of cricket's calmest personalities. Joe Root has returned as Test captain four years after the position became an unbearable burden. Stephen Fleming, the understated former New Zealand captain who constructed one of franchise cricket's most successful teams at Chennai Super Kings, has been appointed England's new Test head coach.

The contrast with their predecessors is impossible to ignore. Stokes and McCullum attempted to transform English Test cricket through personality, emotion and relentless aggression. Root and Fleming are more measured. Neither is likely to treat a press conference as an extension of the dressing-r...