From 'shambles' to Pakistan clean sweep: England end chaotic summer in upbeat mood as Fleming era begins

England will head into the winter in a mood that would have seemed unthinkable only a few weeks ago. A summer that began with the abrupt retirement of Test captain Ben Stokes, the sacking of red-ball coach Brendon McCullum and a squad that appeared "ill-disciplined and better at manufacturing scandals than victories" has closed with a clean sweep over Pakistan, a marvellous one-day series against Sri Lanka and, according to former England batsman Mark Ramprakash, a team in a far stronger place than the one that started it.

"Just a few weeks ago I was so demoralised. The England team was a mess, a shambles. The management was terrible. One red-ball coach had just been sacked and the other wasn't going to turn up for ages," Ramprakash wrote in The Guardian. "And now here I am, heading into the winter full of optimism."

Chaos, then a response

The turbulence was genuine. Stokes — whose skillset as a high-class batter who bowls at an elite standard was so important to the team's balance — retired abruptly, and the fallout from his and Gus Atkinson's night out after a promising win over New Zealand at Lord's only deepened the sense of disarray. New Zealand, in the first red-ball series of the summer, "played extremely well and actually exhibited a lot of the attributes England talk about adopting — resilience, adaptability, doing the basics really well," Ramprakash noted.

Against Pakistan, however, England produced "a more grownup style of play, leaning on a group of four pace bowlers, all different in their own ways and excellent as a combination." That series ended in a clean sweep, with Joe Root and Jordan Cox guiding England home despite a scare at Edgbaston, as BBC Test Match Special's post-series podcast detailed on 28 September. Dan Lawrence was named player of the match in the finale and Ollie Robinson player of the series across the summer, while Marcus Trescothick — the interim coach who held the fort while Fleming completed his arrival — spoke about the wider picture as the itinerary rolled forward.

Fleming, Root and the search for identity

The removal of McCullum as red-ball coach "felt necessary, and the appointment of Stephen Fleming as his replacement seems astute", Ramprakash argued. "It took a while for him to get here, but he seems to have had a series of really good conversations with people in the game, and I believe he and Joe Root will forge a really good partnership."

When Fleming finally faced the media last week, the word "identity" came up a lot — a word Ramprakash, who experienced trophy-laden dressing rooms at Middlesex in 1987 and Surrey in the early 2000s, says was never uttered in the elite environments of his playing career. He pointed instead to Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler, who after his side's Premier League win over Arsenal spoke of making "a big impact from changing small habits", wanting players accountable to each other and invested in how the team plays.

"Modern sportspeople thrive off being given more clarity than anybody provided me with in my career, on being given that sense of identity," Ramprakash wrote, judging that McCullum's messaging — for all the success it initially brought England — was "always a bit one-dimensional". Fleming, by contrast, wants his players to relax and play with freedom while combining that with smart cricket and adaptability, to focus on leadership and strategy, and to take England to No 1 in the world with an ambition to win the World Test Championship.

"As a lover of Test cricket and all it brings, how it challenges you as a player and as an individual, I was very pleased with what I heard," Ramprakash added.

White-ball strength and Baker's emergence

While the Test set-up was rebuilt, the white-ball side flourished. McCullum, still in charge of the shorter formats, "seems to be in his element", with England enjoying marvellous results — including the one-day series against Sri Lanka that Ramprakash "really enjoyed". Kevin Pietersen has come in to help prepare, challenge and mentor the white-ball players, and "the potential of his relationship with Harry Brook in particular is very exciting".

The standout individual story was fast bowler Sonny Baker. Taking the new ball at the Oval, he "looked to have changed the angle of his run-up and got the ball to swing away late, at 89mph. He reminded me a little bit of Brett Lee and that is high praise." Ramprakash remembered seeing Baker earlier in his county career as "a bit two-lengths, everything was either short or full, with not a huge amount of craft. That has certainly changed. Success as a fast bowler ultimately comes down to skill and making the ball move laterally, and that is why I have found some of his recent performances sensational."

Competition for places — and questions that remain

Across the Sri Lanka series and the Pakistan Tests there was "evidence of real competition for places, which should drive performance" — a welcome change after a period in which players seemed to have "incredibly long runs in the side irrespective of their results". Jordan Cox, who has shown "great temperament, character and technique" and delivered outstanding performances in Test and one-day cricket, and Tom Banton are performing at a level where "nobody can rest on their laurels". And while England's four seamers shone against Pakistan, Ramprakash believes that "if Baker keeps improving he has to come into the mix".

There are concerns — notably around the Test side's best spinner and probably its best opening partnership — but also "huge excitement for the future". South Africa, "always going to be tough and competitive", await in England's next Test series, and the team ends the summer with "a much stronger, more multifaceted coaching team than they had at the start".

It is a fitting verdict on a summer in which, as The Guardian reported on 28 September, the England men's team dominated the conversation and traditional county cricket, rather than the Hundred, stirred the strongest emotions. "It has been a long way from the perfect summer, but it is obvious that England are in a stronger position now than they were at the start," Ramprakash concluded. "From where we were just a couple of months ago, that has to be something worth celebrating."