OLD TRAFFORD — Fifty-two days after being announced as England’s new Test head coach, and seven after Joe Root’s team sealed a 3-0 series win against Pakistan that he wasn’t there for, Stephen Fleming had his first public-facing engagement in his new job.

A round of media interviews at Old Trafford on Saturday, a few hours before the T20 team rounded off their series against Sri Lanka with an eight-wicket victory, marked the first staging post in a tenure Fleming hopes will end with Ashes victory next summer.

Last winter’s catastrophe in Australia is why the New Zealander is here now, albeit 255 days after that lamentable series for England finished in Sydney back in January.

The England & Wales Cricket Board’s [ECB] reluctance to sack Brendon McCullum, his predecessor and close friend, and the chaotic summer that indecision sparked, prolonged the agony.

What is the difference between Fleming and McCullum?

But it appears Fleming was worth the wait. This is a man who captained his country more than 300 times and it showed.

The 53-year-old, who conceded he could be classed as McCullum’s “big brother”, exuded a gravitas and calmness that this Test team have been crying out for.

The difference between the pair? “I’ll bet on the favourite and he’ll bet on the longest odds possible,” said Fleming. “I love his confidence and aggressive nature. I’m more measured.”

He vowed to keep the best of Bazball – “the way they changed the nature of Test cricket was quite remarkable,” – but promised to add some “smarts”, saying: “It’s just trying to add some cricket sense around the tough times so the positive ones will win you matches, not just entertain.”

All the right boxes were ticked, with Fleming expressing a “deep respect” and “love” for the county game and insisting his “DNA” was “based on” Test cricket despite only ever having coached in T20 franchise cricket.

Polite but showing just the right amount of seriousness, he even found time for the odd joke, including when asked what “Flemball” would look like: “That’s a medical condition!”

The answer that should excite every fan

But it was the answer to the question The i Paper asked – one of 22 he fielded during a 20-minute briefing with the written press – that should infuse all England fans with hope ahead of next summer’s Ashes rematch against the Australians.

What, I asked, is your long-term vision and goal for this team?

“I would love to be in charge of the No1 Test team in the world,” he replied. “That would be my aspiration. I know the marquee events – the Ashes – are something I can’t wait for.

“But there is a piece of work that has already begun which is around our identity. There has been a lot of coverage around that.

“The way players represent England and the group is going to be really important to me. The style of play will come with that also.”

As well as offering fans the red meat of a hoped-for Ashes win next summer and guiding England to No1 in the world, alluding to the myriad off-field issues that had made this team a joke was smart.

He would later talk about how “disappointing” the slew of off-field drinking controversies were and told his players: “If you want a great example of how to behave as an international cricketer, Joe Root is it. We’ve got someone right there who exhibits the behaviours we’re looking for.”

Root, of course, took over as captain again this summer after Ben Stokes retired from international cricket during the 2-1 series defeat against New Zealand in June, seemingly in a fit of pique over the ECB’s handling of his curfew-busting night out following the first Test of that series at Lord’s.

Will Ben Stokes make a return?

Fleming spoke to Stokes in Durham this week during what he called a “tour of love” around the shires that saw him “kiss the heads of county coaches” and take in five Championship matches.

He coached Stokes in the Indian Premier League at Chennai Super Kings, where Fleming spent 18 years. And he believes it’s unlikely he will be coaching him again during next year’s Ashes.

“We’ve got a really good relationship,” he said. “He was in a good space.He’s really happy and seemed to be really at peace with his decision. When a player decides to retire it’s a big decision and I have the utmost respect for that decision. That’s where it sits.”

As for why he started this job so late, missing the Pakistan series in what was the start of Root’s second coming as Test captain, Fleming said: “Fair question.Being immediately available was the ideal but it was not possible. I had to be true to the family commitments I had and it probably would have added to the chaos by coming in late.

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“It has given me more time to understand the landscape, get my house in order so I can start the job fresh with a better understanding of what’s happening. It was not ideal but it was just the professional nature, some family responsibilities and other responsibilities I had to honour and that’s the way I am.”

Fleming, who has yet to finalise his backroom team, starts his job for real when England kick-off their three-Test series against world champions South Africa at Johannesburg on 17 December.

Based on first impressions, it’ll be the start of a new era we should all be able to get excited about.