Chris Silverwood axed as England Men’s Head Coach / the search for his dual successors

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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today announced a restructure of its selection system for men's international teams.

As part of the restructure, the role of National Selector, currently held by Ed Smith, who was appointed in spring 2018, will no longer exist, and Smith will leave the ECB at the end of the month. In those three years England have enjoyed success across all formats, including becoming ICC 50-Over Men's World Champions in 2019 and are currently ranked 1st, 1st and 4th across the three formats.

This new structure, developed by Managing Director, England Men's Cricket, Ashley Giles, will give clear accountability to the England Men's Head Coach, Chris Silverwood, who will have overall responsibility for future squad selections from this point.

The Head Coach and the respective red-ball and white-ball Captains, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, will continue to work together on selecting the final playing eleven.

Supporting this system will be a resource that will provide intelligence from performance analysis, talent ID, scouting, medical and sports science.

There will be further input from the England Men's Performance Director, Mo Bobat and James Taylor, who will see his job title change from England Selector to Head Scout. Coaches aligned to the men's international teams will all feed into this process.

Ashley Giles, Managing Director, England Men's Cricket, said:

"I would like to personally thank Ed for his contribution to the England men's teams over the past three years. Ed's input has helped deliver successes for all our England Teams, and he has worked with commitment and professionalism throughout his time as National Selector. I wish him well in his future endeavours.

"The current process of selecting England teams has been in place for over 120 years. Even though this system has its merits, with advances in technology and a greater information gathering resource at our disposal than ever before, the restructure is in the best interests of helping England men's teams be successful.

"The new structure also makes lines of accountability much clearer, with Chris Silverwood, as Head Coach, taking ultimate responsibility for picking England senior men's squads."

Ed Smith, said:

"It has been a huge privilege to work with great people trying to help England cricket and I am excited about watching England's continued development.

"I've been very lucky to work with James Taylor, and I'm delighted that he will remain part of the new structure. My thanks to the dedicated team of scouts and to all the coaches, data analysts, medics and members of the ECB Pathway, who are available every day of the year at all hours to help England's decision-makers.

"England's two captains, Joe and Eoin, have already completed remarkable achievements in an England shirt. England has two men dedicated to playing cricket in a way that makes the country proud. The role of National Selector has been enjoyable and rewarding, and that is significantly due to my interaction with all of the England players.

"At such a high point for England cricket, I wish Ashley Giles, the coaches and all support staff good fortune over the coming months. I know how hard Ashley and his team work for England cricket. In particular, I'd like to wish Chris Silverwood good luck and every success going forward."
 
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Yet when this structure was attempted in Pakistan, it was ridiculed by some of our own. PCB should've stuck to their guns, but hired somebody other than Misbah for the role.

Anyway I suspect Ed Smith's handling of rotation during the India tour and the Moeen Ali situation wasn't viewed too kindly by ECB.

He blooded lots of new faces in the Test side, and made some bold calls like recalling Jos Buttler who was seen as a white ball only player. However he was unable to identify a stable opening partnership, got too carried away with "out of the box" selections like picking Jason Roy in Tests, while guys like Jonny Bairstow got too many chances for too few returns. Still he was one of England's more progressive chief selectors, and look forward to hearing him back on TMS.
 
Smith's relationship with the team appeared to have broken down recently. He's been hit and miss during his tenure, as most selectors are. Some successes (Buttler, Curran, Pope) and some failures (Denly, Roy, Burns).

The biggest problem has of course been the ludicrous rotation policy that's been in place for the test team, initially with the bowlers, but expanded to the whole team this winter.

The phrase 'too clever by half' comes to mind.
 
Well Pak tried it with Misbah and rather than making the accountability clearer the dual role made it difficult to judge both the roles in isolation in my opinion. Further it naturally increases the workload of the head coach with the extra responsibility and creating that extra bit of pressure on one individual when things are not working out rather than having a separate chief selector to share it with.

While on paper both the jobs are very much interlinked, in reality both jobs are full time roles and require extensive work in the background to perform them satisfactorily as the stint with Misbah showed which was the first experiment of its kind at international level in cricket.

One thing Chris Silverwood has at this stage is established teams in the whiteball formats and red ball team seems to be going in the right direction for now. However, its not going to be easy at all and few not so impressive results can create a lot of pressure on Silverwood.
 
Yet when this structure was attempted in Pakistan, it was ridiculed by some of our own. PCB should've stuck to their guns, but hired somebody other than Misbah for the role.

Anyway I suspect Ed Smith's handling of rotation during the India tour and the Moeen Ali situation wasn't viewed too kindly by ECB.

He blooded lots of new faces in the Test side, and made some bold calls like recalling Jos Buttler who was seen as a white ball only player. However he was unable to identify a stable opening partnership, got too carried away with "out of the box" selections like picking Jason Roy in Tests, while guys like Jonny Bairstow got too many chances for too few returns. Still he was one of England's more progressive chief selectors, and look forward to hearing him back on TMS.

Agree the structure was good, just needed someone with more nous than Misbah in selection.
 
Don't think this is a good move. I get that England has an amazing depth of talent and it likely might not even affect their form in atleast the white-ball formats, but its simply too much pressure and responsibility on one guy. And then the accountability for losses falls on the same guy too.
 
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Seems stupid to me and it was stupid for Pakistan to try it too.

Reason being coaches/captains have no idea what is going on in domestic and are unaware of the talent. Maybe they will see some videos online or find out hearsay but that isn't the same as scouting the talent yourself daily, tracking how he is progressing and whether or not he is ready for International cricket.

Now in Pakistan's case, the selectors are so dumb and useless they didn't even know talented players unless they showed up and made a name for themselves in PSL.

Personal bias can also creep into those decisions since captain/coaches are communicating daily with those selected players meanwhile the selector isn't as close to the team so he is not selecting on the basis who he likes or is a friend with. And we saw how poorly it worked out with Misbah who immediately brought Shehzad and Akmal out of the blue because he knew and played with them for a long time. Worked out quite poorly.
 
Ed Smith was one of the better selectors for England in recent memory. Don't really see Ashley Giles some sort of a revolutionary or something. His coaching career ended in tears. He doesn't look good enough to fill Strauss' shoes.
 
There will be too much power for Chris Silverwood now. Competitive discussions are the best to improve the decisions, now that will end. In addition, Silverwood hasn't really been as successful as Trevor Bayliss was.

Alex Hales' international career seems to be over for good now.
 
Misbah ahead of his time. He did this already, only problem was it was in Pakistan and media hated him.
 
Misbah ahead of his time. He did this already, only problem was it was in Pakistan and media hated him.


Misbah wasnt ahead if his times. The people who appointed him were (arguably).

Misbah came up with the worst selections ive ever seen. And i dont say that lightly. His only problem was that he was woefully incompetent...not that the media disliked him.
 
Misbah wasnt ahead if his times. The people who appointed him were (arguably).

Misbah came up with the worst selections ive ever seen. And i dont say that lightly. His only problem was that he was woefully incompetent...not that the media disliked him.

ahmed shezad and umar akmal were mistakes, and the Australia they shouldn't had taken young inexperienced bowlers. Amir and Wahab pulled out, and left the team management in a bad situation. However, domestically experienced bowlers could had been considered, but even ABbas did nothing special

Rather than that, Misbah persisted with Rizwan and Faheem and they have proven to be quite good.

But either way, had we lost Australia with experienced domestic bowlers, Misbah would had been bashed for not trying out youngsters.

Misbah did gave chances to youngsters.
 
Misbah ahead of his time. He did this already, only problem was it was in Pakistan and media hated him.

Misbah has always been ahead of his time when it came to being a spineless coward, it’s not surprising he was unable to achieve anything with so much power and found himself relieved from the dual role, his politicking has allowed him to work the system and say all the right things to stay as a coach but Pakistan have made zero progress, he simply lacks vision and his delusional fans only praise him due to personal reasons, objectively speaking; Misbah ul Haq is a tragic individual who will always do more harm then good due to his narrow minded one dimensional approach
 
Who says misbah is not the selector...
He is just not facing the music.
 
ECB Removes National Selector Position

Just heard in a Sky Cricket Podcast that the ECB have simply removed the position of the national selector which was held by Ed Smith. The job of selection is now the responsibility of the head coach with input from two other personnel one of whom will be called the "Head Scout".

We had something similar with Misbah occupying both roles and some PPers were saying that if it was such a good idea, England, Aus or India would've done it. Well now one of them has. I personally don't like the idea of Misbah controlling everything but I like the general idea of combining the head coach and selector into one role.

Discuss!
 
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has given a cautious tick of approval to England's radical overhaul of its selection process, but warned the move has the potential to backfire.

England this week announced the axing of national selector Ed Smith, with the team to now be picked by head coach Chris Silverwood, who will work in consultation with captains Joe Root (Test) and Eoin Morgan (ODIs and T20s).

The managing director of the English team, former spinner Ashley Giles, explained the new structure would make lines of accountability much clearer.

"I don't want to talk it down too much, even though it's never been the model I would envisage for cricket," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.

"In this era of increased accountability, if people are going to be holding Chris Silverwood responsible for how the team's playing, you've got to give him every opportunity to choose the team he thinks is best.

"That's the merit behind it, but it's going to require people in and around that team to have strong adult conversations, and at the same time, not have the fear that there'll be repercussions from those conversations, and that's the hard part."

Taylor reflected on the period in the mid-1990s when he took over as national captain, at a time when Bob Simpson was the most powerful figure in Australian cricket. Simpson was not only the coach, but a selector, a position that carried significant influence under the reign of Taylor's predecessor, Allan Border.

By the end of Taylor's time as captain, the coach (by then Geoff Marsh) had been removed from the selection panel, a move that was reversed a decade ago, with current coach Justin Langer once again given a seat at the table.

Usman Khawaja's demise as an Australian player in recent years has coincided with suggestions of a rift between the left-hander and coach, and selector, Justin Langer.

The pair engaged in a heated discussion in the lead-up to a Test against Pakistan in the Middle East in 2018, Khawaja hasn't played for Australia in any format since mid-2019.

He posted solid, if unspectacular numbers for Queensland this summer, but is rarely mentioned as a candidate for a recall.

And according to Taylor, it's when there's controversy over selections that it's ideal to have the team at arm's length from the selectors.

"I really liked that model from my time when, as captain and coach, we didn't have a selection vote," Taylor explained.

"Obviously we both had a big say in who was picked, but at the end of the day it's up to the coach and captain to get the team to play its best.

"But if you're officially on the selection panel, and there's innuendo going around that you support one player over another, then that's a huge burden to carry."

Taylor noted that the increased amount of international cricket in recent years means the national captain plays less domestic matches than ever, while the time constraints on the coach means he's unlikely to see as many games as an independent selection panel.

"The national captain sees very little domestic cricket," he said.

"Yes, they've got a good handle of the national squad, but they don't see a lot of players outside of that little world.

"The more you have the selectors in and around the national team, like the coach, the more you continue to just pick the same players, rather than looking outside the bubble."

Taylor welcomed the move to make Silverwood accountable for the results of the team, but explained that the coach of a cricket team has much less influence on the outcome than the coach of a football team.

"The accountability that goes with coaching a team has needed to be increased, but cricket is a very different game than football in terms of how you account for wins and losses," he said.

"There's no doubt the captain of a cricket team has far more to do than the captain of a football team, regardless of the code.

"England might be increasing the accountability of the coach, but Test cricket goes for seven hours a day, for five days, and the coach doesn't always have control over what's happening in the middle, and nor should he."

https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/en...reaction/c07c9aec-101f-440a-9fa9-1a2d85e6de05
 
England head coach Chris Silverwood on Friday said he will hand over the reins to the one-day international side this summer to ensure he takes a break in a congested year.

Silverwood will miss England's home ODI matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan from late June to mid-July, with his assistants Paul Collingwood and Graham Thorpe taking charge of the team for one series each.

Having been part of England's tours of Sri Lanka and India earlier this year, Silverwood said it was important to keep the backroom staff "as fresh as possible".

"It's not fair on the players if I am operating at less than 100% and it is not fair on myself either," Silverwood told British media.

"Thorpey will do one and Colly will do the other and I'll use it as my break to refresh and get ready for what is ahead of us."

England have already adopted a rest-and-rotation policy for its players to tackle a relentlessly busy schedule.

After hosting seven Tests as well as the 12 white-ball internationals, England are scheduled to tour Pakistan and Bangladesh ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled for October.

Joe Root's Test side then face a trip Down Under for the Ashes series against Australia, followed by a tour of the Caribbean at the start of next year.

Silverwood is not yet sure whether he will have a break in that time.

"I'm not going to deny – it's not easy for me," he said, of switching off from his job. "Obviously I am wholly on board with what we are doing. I am very embedded in it now. I do find it hard to switch off but I'll do my best."

England are expected to name their test squad for the series against top-ranked New Zealand early next week.

Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men's cricket, has previously suggested that players who participated in the COVID-19-hit Indian Premier League are unlikely to feature in the test series, which begins on June 2.

https://cricketpakistan.com.pk/en/n...or-summer-break-during-sl-pakistan-odi-series
 
Seems that the players want him out.

Gary Kirsten has made himself available to take over the role of head coach.
 
Seems that the players want him out.

Gary Kirsten has made himself available to take over the role of head coach.

Whilst PCB have always begged him but he never batted an eyelid. Typical
 
England need a strong coach that can take a woefully inept captain under his wing and can also dictate how the side should play.

Joe Root isn't strong enough to stand up to the different characters in the dressing room and I don't think Silverwood ( and Giles) command the respect of the team because they accomplished nothing as players.

Coaches that doesn't have a strong reputation can be successful when they are paired up with an astute captain. The coach can take more of a mentor/administrator type role and leave the captain to deal with on-field operations.

However, when you have someone like Joe Root who doesn't seem to understand the game then this type of coach is useless. They need someone who will command respect and will essentially think for the captain. Joe Root can then just point and execute the coach's commands until he matures into the role.

The only two people that are capable of becoming that type of coach for England are Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie.
 
Root should not be captain. He's had enough time in charge. Someone else deserves a go now. I say give it to Stokes as the team needs an injection of feeling, emotion and aggression
 
Former India and South Africa coach Gary Kirsten says he would be interested in coaching England's beleaguered Test side as long as the role does not involve coaching the white-ball teams as well.

Current England coach Chris Silverwood has come under extreme pressure after defeat to Australia in the Ashes, with the tourists in dire straits at 3-0 down in the series with two Tests to go.

Kirsten, a former South Africa opener, led both India and his home nation to the top of the Test rankings as coach and the 54-year-old said coaching England would be a "tremendous honour".

Ashes Panel: 'Out of his depth' Chris Silverwood set for the chop?
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"I've walked this journey twice now (when England recruited new coaches in 2015 and 2019) and I've always made it clear that I would never commit to doing all formats," Kirsten told i News.

"And when international cricket boards get their head around the fact that they need to split coaching roles, then it becomes a consideration."

England won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019 but the Test team has failed to fire and find themselves seventh in the World Test Championship table after series defeats to India (twice) and New Zealand earlier in the year.

"Listen, the England ODI side is set up, you're the best ODI side in the world at the moment. It's a project that has been well thought out, you've got consistency in the players that have been picked," Kirsten added.

"Your Test side has battled for a while but it would be a really lovely project to get that going."

Former England batter Nick Compton believes Kirsten would be the right person to replace Silverwood following England's humiliating Ashes defeat.

"I would make a change now," Compton told Sky Sports News. "I think Silverwood is a good man and did the best he can. Kirsten would be the right person. He understands top-level batting, he's been there in a consistent fashion."

Compton added: "Are (England managing director Ashley) Giles and Silverwood the problem? That's the big question. I don't think suddenly you come in and overhaul everything.

Former England batter Nick Compton believes Chris Silverwood should be replaced, and believes Kirsten would be a good option to
succeed him.
"It's about getting the right people into the right places. I don't think Giles has made the right appointments. I think Kirsten should have got the coaching job, someone who's more skilled, with experience of taking teams to No 1 in the world, who has won World Cups.

"With all due respect to Silverwood, he's given his absolute best, but he hasn't had the long-term experience of being a head coach.

"As well as giving him complete autonomy with the selection, it's a huge role to take on. The selection has been pretty abysmal in this series, it obviously hasn't worked. He could have stayed as the bowling coach, I think Kirsten would have been the right man to take on this role.

"I do think there's been wrong appointments. The guys beneath him, what are they actually doing?"

SKY
 
Test coach: Gary Kirsten
Test captain: Ben Stokes

ODI/T20 coach: Paul Collingwood
ODI/T20 captain: Eoin Morgan

My personal opinion…
 
Whilst PCB have always begged him but he never batted an eyelid. Typical

Well on the other hand, Dean Jones asked to be coach of Pakistan forever but the PCB never obliged. There is always more to these things than meets the eye.

Coaches that doesn't have a strong reputation can be successful when they are paired up with an astute captain. The coach can take more of a mentor/administrator type role and leave the captain to deal with on-field operations.

Yep. Refer: Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun etc.

Test coach: Gary Kirsten
Test captain: Ben Stokes

ODI/T20 coach: Paul Collingwood
ODI/T20 captain: Eoin Morgan

My personal opinion…

Have you heard of an Indian dish called khichdi?
 
Giving a novice mutliple jobs was always going to fail, it did for pakistan with misbah and it has here with england and silverwood.
 
Explain…

It's a mix of several contrasting ingredients - rice, lentils, herbs, spices, vegetables, so on and so forth. It takes skill to prepare any meal with a diverse array of inputs - and works well when it comes to a khichdi, but I'm afraid one can't be too optimistic about the same formula for English cricket.

Consistency is the way to go. Baffled why Kirsten is reluctant to take the ODI job - there's not much tinkering to do there in any case.
 
It's a mix of several contrasting ingredients - rice, lentils, herbs, spices, vegetables, so on and so forth. It takes skill to prepare any meal with a diverse array of inputs - and works well when it comes to a khichdi, but I'm afraid one can't be too optimistic about the same formula for English cricket.

Consistency is the way to go. Baffled why Kirsten is reluctant to take the ODI job - there's not much tinkering to do there in any case.

Ok :)

If the ECB respond to his initial open offer on a formal basis, then perhaps Kirsten (who may well be negotiating) could have his arm twisted by the very deep pockets of our administration.

Btw Paul Collingwood has worked within England’s successful ODI/T20 setup for a while already, in a less senior role than head coach, so this would be a natural step up for Paul and it would also deliver consistency.
 
Test coach: Gary Kirsten
Test captain: Ben Stokes

ODI/T20 coach: Paul Collingwood
ODI/T20 captain: Eoin Morgan

My personal opinion…


Looks good, though Wobbles could do both.
 
The Ashes: Joe Root wants Chris Silverwood to remain as head coach

England captain Joe Root wants Chris Silverwood to remain as head coach despite the Ashes defeat in Australia this winter.

The tourists are 3-0 down in the five-match series, with the final Test in Hobart starting on Friday at 04:00 GMT.

Silverwood is back with the squad after missing the drawn fourth Test in Sydney because of Covid-19.

Asked if he would like Silverwood, 46, to remain in charge, Root said: "Yes, I would."

He added: "It was a difficult week for the group of players with him not being around.

"But the performances we put in during the first three games, I feel we've let him and the coaches down to a degree. We've not played anywhere near the level we're capable of."

England suffered nine Test defeats in 2021, including some heavy losses in a one-sided Ashes series.

They travel to face West Indies for a three-Test series in March before hosting New Zealand, India and South Africa in the English summer.

Silverwood has been in his role since October 2019, but has had to shuffle his resources because of Covid bubbles, player welfare and injuries.

"He's very calm, he has the respect of the guys and he's got a desperation to see everyone do well or up-skill the players as best he can," Root said

"He's had a very difficult time of it with the environments we've been living in, trying to manage winning matches with bubble environments away from home, and multi-format players trying to prepare for an Ashes and a World Cup.

"For a long time we've not been able to put our best teams out because we've been constantly trying to make sure from a mental wellbeing point of view everyone is looked after properly, because of the schedule we've dealt with over two years."

BBC
 
Terrible statement from Joe.

Silverwood is out of his depth.
 
Terrible statement from Joe.

Silverwood is out of his depth.

To be fair to Root he can't exactly turn around in the middle of the series and say in a press conference that he doesn't think his coach should keep his job at the end of it.
 
To be fair to Root he can't exactly turn around in the middle of the series and say in a press conference that he doesn't think his coach should keep his job at the end of it.

Maybe Joe should show a pair of cricket balls the coward.
 
To be fair to Root he can't exactly turn around in the middle of the series and say in a press conference that he doesn't think his coach should keep his job at the end of it.

Should have been ambiguous / ambivalent.

If Joe honestly still backs Silverwood’s methods and way of thinking after the year we have just had then Joe should go as well. (as captain)
 
Maybe Joe should show a pair of cricket balls the coward.

Publicly slagging someone off that you've got to work with isn't going to help anyone. If Root doesn't think Silverwood's up to the job he should/could be going to Giles in private.
 
Publicly slagging someone off that you've got to work with isn't going to help anyone. If Root doesn't think Silverwood's up to the job he should/could be going to Giles in private.

He doesn’t need to slag him off but say it how it is, the bloke is incompetent and Joe unfortunately tends to have a spineless personality and that shows in his poor leadership.
 
He doesn’t need to slag him off but say it how it is, the bloke is incompetent and Joe unfortunately tends to have a spineless personality and that shows in his poor leadership.

Pretty much my thoughts.

Joe is a tough competitor out on the field but as a leader, manager, selector etc he is meek.
 
Shocking stuff from Silverwood and Root only picking Broad in 3 out of the 5 Tests.
 
Silverwood in an interview:

‘My job is going to be under scrutiny, But I would love to help effect those changes within the county structures, and I would like to put some of this right. I think I’m a good coach and I would love to be given that opportunity, but there are certain things that are out of my hands at the moment.’

‘But there will be aspects I’ve got to reflect on, because I’m not a finished article as a coach and I want to get better all the time. I’m not afraid to show my teeth, but you sometimes wonder in hindsight whether I should do it more. But then does it make it less effective? I don’t know.’

‘It was hard to watch. At times, you were thinking, just get stuck in. Let’s show that fight, but we didn’t have that. And there is no point saying we did, because we clearly didn’t. We’ve got to get to the bottom of why that is, and try to make a difference.’

‘We’ve certainly got to look at what is out there as well,’ said Silverwood. ‘One of the things I will be doing is speaking to the scouts, the performance director. What have we got out there? Do we need to make changes?’

‘What incentives are there in the County Championship to open the batting What incentives are there to be a spinner or to bowl fast? Anyone coming into Test cricket is doing it in spite of county cricket, not because of it.

‘How do we provide those incentives? We could produce better wickets, hopefully by playing at a better time of year. We could flatten the seam on the ball, maybe by giving our seamers a Kookaburra to work with.

'That would nullify running in and bowling at 70 miles per hour while encouraging bowlers to create new angles and find different ways to take wickets. And give spinners the chance to bowl in the first half of the season.

‘Then we could double the batting points in a Championship game and incentivise first innings leads above 400. When do our young batters ever go out under the pressure of replying to 450-500? When do they have to save a match in spinning conditions?

‘There are lots of things we could change quite quickly but for now it’s how we react to this Ashes. Can we use this experience when we’re hurting to grow and come back as better players?’
 
Chris Silverwood has left his role as England Men’s Head Coach.

Interim arrangements for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies will be announced in due course.

ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said: “During his time in the role Chris has given absolutely everything to make a success of it. He is a man of great integrity, who players and staff alike have enjoyed working with.

“Under Chris, England Men’s white ball teams have been ranked first and second in the world while he also led the Test team to a number of series wins including away in South Africa and Sri Lanka.

“He has led the England Men’s team with great resilience and empathy through an incredibly challenging period for English cricket, and he deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude.

“In the coming days Andrew Strauss will appoint a caretaker coach for the tour of the West Indies and will then consider the appropriate coaching structures to help England move forwards.”

Chris Silverwood said: “It’s been an absolute honour to be England Head Coach, and I’m extremely proud to have worked alongside our players and staff. I want to thank them all for the hard work and commitment they have given during my time in the role and I wish them all the very best moving forward.

“The last two years have been very demanding but I have really enjoyed my time with the team and working with Rooty and Morgs, and I am very proud of this group considering the challenges. I leave with fond memories and I am now looking forward to spending some quality time at home with my family and embracing the next chapter.”
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For those asking, I would NEVER take the England job until or unless they commit to franchising county cricket! <br><br>If they don’t and the mediocre county cricketers still stay as professionals, please don’t expect different results.</p>— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) <a href="https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1489529237627408385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
On the topic of Silverwood, this week — with the departure of him and Giles, & the reinstatement of Strauss — has been the first bit of good news for English cricket in a while.

Time to rebuild.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For those asking, I would NEVER take the England job until or unless they commit to franchising county cricket! <br><br>If they don’t and the mediocre county cricketers still stay as professionals, please don’t expect different results.</p>— Kevin Pietersen&#55358;&#56719; (@KP24) <a href="https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1489529237627408385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

whats your thoughts on his tweet? [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]? should it go a franchise way?
 
The question I ask myself is, which benefits will franchise cricket bring.

Is the selection process really that flawed in England.
 
You can blame the coach or the assistant coach all you want. Fact is England is a rubbish overrated team that has about 2 pounds of greatness with 50 pounds of mediocrity dumped on-top.

Their county system is programmed to churn out unimpressive 120 kph medium pacers who can only ever be successful in one place. While batsmen are accustomed to playing the same kind of bowling and nothing resembling pace, bounce or even quality spin-bowling. On top of that they haven't produced a prodigy like Root since well, Root. Maybe Pope could be one but too early to tell honestly.

So why is anyone surprised that they got mauled in Australia? It was the most predictable thing ever.

And funny thing is that they could possibly have escaped with one win in the final test if they didn't follow their asinine and ludicrous rotation policy (which makes absolutely no sense) by leaving out Anderson on the one pitch he was most suited to bowling on.
 
Some big names could be tempted into taking on this role…

Kirsten
Ponting
Gillespie
Arthur
And now Langer.

A tough Southern Hemisphere type with lots of experience who takes no nonsense and sets high standards is exactly what this England team needs right now.

An ex England player such as Stewart, Collingwood, or Trott could also be considered, but I think they would work better either as an ODI/T20 coach or as an assistant to the new head coach.

Looking forward to seeing the application process and how the new appointment(s) play out…
 
Gary Kirsten is likely to be on the shortlist for the vacant role of the England Test head coach as Rob Key moves to make his first major appointment as director of men’s cricket.

A job that could be split into two by way of Test and white-ball cricket is due to be officially advertised in the coming days, but Key has already begun sounding out potential candidates since starting his job last Tuesday.

Kirsten, the former India and South Africa head coach, missed out on the England job in 2019 to Chris Silverwood and was left bruised by a process that led to him flying to the UK under a belief it was his to lose. But those close to Kirsten say he remains keen on the challenge of reversing England’s Test fortunes and, having had concerns over the demands on family life when the job was all-format, is encouraged by the role potentially being split.

Speaking about Kirsten in February when a pundit for Sky, Key said: “He probably would [be a good option as head coach]. He was obviously a decent player and he’s got a lot of international cricket experience, so he’s used to that scrutiny and he coached India to No 1 in the world with [captain] MS Dhoni.

“What you have to work out with these people at times is who was the real driver of that success that India had. Was it MS Dhoni, was it Gary Kirsten? Did Gary Kirsten just facilitate MS Dhoni and everything that was great about MS Dhoni and all the decisions? That’s what you have to find out.”

Kirsten is the batting mentor to the new Gujarat Titans franchise that sits first in the Indian Premier League but with England keen to secure the right person for the team’s needs, a degree of flexibility over second jobs has not been ruled out.

There are others in contention, with the former Australia batter Simon Katich highly rated by Key after their recent stint commentating together in Pakistan. The 46-year-old already works in England as the head coach of Manchester Originals, has county knowledge from his playing days and past coaching experience in the IPL.

Though splitting the head coach roles reduces time on the road, candidates will still have to weigh up their own commitments and the lifestyle of international cricket. Katich, for example, has a young family and is among a number of former players who enjoy the flexibility of combining commentary work with short-term franchise roles.

Key is said to be optimistic about his options, with Graham Ford, the well-travelled former Kent and Surrey coach, another name linked and Paul Collingwood, the interim head coach for both legs of the recent Caribbean tour, a candidate for the limited-overs job that supports Eoin Morgan as captain. Justin Langer, the former Australia head coach, is not thought to be a contender.

While Ben Stokes is also expected to take on the Test captaincy – provided Key is convinced the all-rounder is ready for additional responsibility after last year’s break for mental health reasons – a trickier task comes in hiring a new national selector.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...gary-kirsten-keen-on-england-cricket-test-job
 
Gary Kirsten for Tests is my absolute first choice.

With regards to ODIs & T20s I am less precious, but Simon Katich or Jonathan Trott would be good.
 
Australian cricket legend Justin Langer has reportedly been ruled out of coaching the England men's team.

According to the UK Telegraph, new ECB director of cricket Rob Key has ruled a line through Langer and has approached South African Gary Kirsten to become the new Test coach.

The ECB completely cleaned house following a disastrous trip to Australia where England lost the Ashes 4-0 to the Aussies, with Langer coaching the home side.

Langer was subsequently pushed out of the coach role of his home nation, but has since put his hand up to take over the old enemy following the sacking of Chris Silverwood.

Key, though, had reservations about Langer's hardline disciplinarian style of coaching and was worried he would not complement incoming captain Ben Stokes well.

Langer led Australia through a tough period following the infamous 2018 sandpaper scandal, but in recent months his coaching style wore thin on the Aussies and it eventually cost him his job.

According to the Telegraph report, Key believes Stokes is strict enough in his own right to not need a coach of a similar nature.

Stokes is expected to be named the new captain as early as this week, replacing Joe Root who stood down earlier this month in the wake of a disastrous form slump for the Test team.

https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/ne...ntenders/13c4f37d-0b8f-42e9-ae05-6c18dc2ad60e
 
England managing director of men's cricket Rob Key has begun his hunt for split red and white-ball head coaches.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has placed a job advertisement which confirms that two head coaches will be appointed, one for Test cricket and another for the limited-overs formats.

England previously had two separate head coaches between 2012 and 2014, with Andy Flower at the helm for red-ball cricket and Ashley Giles in charge of the white-ball sides.

Chris Silverwood departed as England head coach after the 4-0 Ashes thrashing this winter, with Paul Collingwood taking charge on an interim basis for the 1-0 Test series defeat in the West Indies in March.

The job advert says that the new head coaches will "play a central role in selecting the team for their respective format alongside a national selection panel."

The role of national selector was previously abolished in 2021 with Ed Smith leaving the ECB and then-coach Silverwood charged with heading up player selection.

The deadline for applications for the head coach roles is May 6 with first-stage interviews set to commence the following week.

Sky Sports News understands that Key, whose appointment as successor to Giles as England MD was confirmed on Easter Sunday, has not yet made any official approaches to coaches but that contenders are emerging.

Former India and South Africa head coach Gary Kirsten - who was interviewed by England in 2019 ahead of Silverwood's appointment - and ex-Surrey, Sri Lanka and Ireland coach Graham Ford - who Key worked under at Kent - have expressed their interest.

Kirsten said recently that he would be keen to coach England in Test cricket alone.

Former Australia batter Simon Katich is also in contention.

The 46-year-old, who lives in England, has extensive knowledge of county cricket after stints as a player with Lancashire, Yorkshire, Hampshire, Durham and Derbyshire.

Like Kirsten, Katich is a current coach in The Hundred - he coaches Manchester Originals while Kirsten is with Welsh Fire - and has experience coaching in the Indian Premier League.

Sky Sports News understands that Australian duo Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer are not in the frame for either of the head coach positions being advertised.

Langer coached Australia to the T20 World Cup title and Ashes glory over the winter but then left his role earlier this year after turning down a short-term extension amid reports that some players were unhappy with his coaching methods.

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is expected to succeed Joe Root as Test captain but that may need the blessing of England's new red-ball head coach.

England begin their Test summer against New Zealand at Lord's from June 2, with the white-ball side back in action in an ODI series in the Netherlands starting on June 17.

The job advertisement read: "These roles are responsible for developing world-class England men's teams in both red and white-ball cricket and ensuring sustained success both at home and abroad.

"The roles will carry additional responsibility for developing a playing style and culture that inspires future generations of players and supporters."

The ECB is looking for people who can "develop a high-performance culture that drives outstanding performance, on an off the field, ensuring England teams are capable of winning consistently in all formats, home and away" and form "effective working relationships with all of the counties, drawing on the expertise and experience of coaches from around the country."

International coaching experience is seen as "desirable".

SKY
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For those asking, I would NEVER take the England job until or unless they commit to franchising county cricket! <br><br>If they don’t and the mediocre county cricketers still stay as professionals, please don’t expect different results.</p>— Kevin Pietersen&#55358;&#56719; (@KP24) <a href="https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1489529237627408385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

KP gets it. The coach ain't the issue. The standard of CC is.
 
New coaches appointed in May then.

Running it close with the start of the English Test season in early June.
 
KP is too volatile of a personality to helm an international team.

Something tells me about Kirsten that he wouldn't be looking for a 4-5 year contract. He remained coach of his own country for barely 2 years.

Graham Ford is a safe choice but I think Key would be a bit more adventurous.

Simon Katich is someone I think would be a nice fit.

Regarding LOI coach, they just need to appoint someone to assist Morgan in additive way. Nixon, Moody, Daniel Vettori, all are good options.
 
Gary Kirsten for Tests is my absolute first choice.

With regards to ODIs & T20s I am less precious, but Simon Katich or Jonathan Trott would be good.


KP is too volatile of a personality to helm an international team.

Something tells me about Kirsten that he wouldn't be looking for a 4-5 year contract. He remained coach of his own country for barely 2 years.

Graham Ford is a safe choice but I think Key would be a bit more adventurous.

Simon Katich is someone I think would be a nice fit.

Regarding LOI coach, they just need to appoint someone to assist Morgan in additive way. Nixon, Moody, Daniel Vettori, all are good options.


Is there a point in appointing a dummy LOI coach who would sit on the sidelines and basically do nothing?

Morgan is a brilliant LOI captain and this is his team. England do not have to change anything about the way they play their LOI cricket. However, as a player, he is in decline and it is clear that he will walk away after the 2023 World Cup.

In my opinion, it would be a very smart and innovative move to promote Morgan to a coach-captain type role now and have him take over as a full-time coach once he retires.

However, it pretty much depends on Morgan’s willingness and also the fact that perhaps ECB right now is not really in a position where they have the confidence to take a left-field, some would risky decision even in LOI.
 
KP is not coach material, he doesn't have the personality for it. Kirsten would be a fantastic choice.
 
I am a KP fan, more closeted nowadays because the guy is a bit of an embarrassment but I still can’t help liking him.

One thing is for sure however — he should be kept well away from any position of responsibility or importance in the England setup.

Stick to the IPL commentary and the (very good) rhino conservation work, Kevin.
 
England have closed in on the name of Gary Kirsten for the job of Test team coach with the likes of Simon Katich and Ottis Gibson both falling out of favour, a report said. ‘Inews.co.uk’ report also stated further that ECB is impressed with Kirsten’s impressive resume which saw him taking India and South Africa to top of Test rankings. He also made India a world champion in 2011. Furthermore, the thing that went against Katich was that he had virtually no experience in white-ball cricket as coach. On the other hand, Gibson is well-liked in England dressing room, but the situation got complicated with he being appointed head coach at Yorkshire.

The report states that Kirsten will join via Zoom call and will be interviewed by a three-man panel that includes Rob Key, Andrew Strauss, and Tom Harrison. The 54-year-old fell down at the interview stage with England in 2019, when he was beaten to the head coach role by Chris Silverwood.

“I’m doing my digging on people now. There’s a lot of people I know in English cricket and world cricket. My job at the moment is just to try and work out a little bit about the ones I don’t know so much about, then see who I think is suitable to do that role.

“I think Gary Kirsten would be very good at that job. I think all of the names I’ve seen in the papers would be good if they got the chance to do it. I’m just doing the digging on these to see exactly what they’re like as coaches.”

Earlier several media reports also claimed that Key is keen in deploying a split manager model for nation’s cricket team with Kirsten taking over in Tests and Brendon McCullum taking charge in limited-overs cricket. Both are busy coaching respective IPL teams: Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders.

https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/...-ottis-gibson-out-of-race-report-5126971.html
 
Kirsten in Tests and McCullum in LOIs would be two very exciting appointments.

England are in dire straits results-wise and could do with a couple of Southern Hemisphere coaches to help them out at the moment.
 
Brendon McCullum has emerged as a strong candidate to become England men's new Test head coach.

The 40-year-old is said to have held talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and is believed to be interested in the job.

The news follows two days of interviews for the red and white ball coaching roles.

McCullum, who played 101 Test matches for New Zealand, is currently in charge of Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders.

The ECB interviewed for two positions last week after deciding to split the red-ball and white-ball roles following the departure of Chris Silverwood. Former South Africa and India head coach Gary Kirsten also remains in the frame, with the ECB set to appoint before the end of the week.

Rob Key, the ECB's new managing director of men's cricket, explains why he has asked Ben Stokes to be the new Test captain
Ex-Australia batter Simon Katich and former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood were also part of the process and in contention for the white-ball job.

Sky

If the ECB were to favour McCullum for the Test job, it would be a surprise appointment as the former NZ captain - now coach at KKR in IPL - is better known as a white-ball specialist.

However, as Sky Sports' James Cole explains, he does not come without adequate experience for the Test role.

"The emergence of Brendon McCullum as a leading candidate for the Test role is a surprise because, on the surface, he would appear more suited to the white-ball role," said Cole.

"As a player, he was a white-ball specialist, that is where his prowess was.

"As a coach, he has worked exclusively with franchise T20 cricket and he also has a very good relationship with Eoin Morgan, England's current white-ball captain.

"That said, McCullum played over 100 Tests for New Zealand and the former captain certainly knows what it takes to be successful in Test cricket and his relationship with Ben Stokes, or any coach's relationship with Ben Stokes, the new Test captain, will also be key in the decision made by the ECB.

"Also in contention remains Gary Kirsten, the former India and South Africa coach, he is in contention for both roles.

"The interview process has been complete and the ECB will appoint before the end of the week."

England are scheduled to play New Zealand in a three-match Test series commencing on June 2 at Lord's.

Key: We need more homegrown coaches

Despite McCullum leading the way for the role, managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key has said the ECB needs to work on bringing through more homegrown coaches, admitting it is a failure of the ECB system there are not more English coaches up for the job.

"Let's be honest, we are at this point where we have two coaching jobs and the majority of the names coming at you will be overseas coaches. That can't be right," said Key.

"That is a fault of the system and we need to be sorting this out. Whenever I read [the media] you are always tipping overseas coaches and that is the fault of us at the ECB.

"You can't be telling me there are not good English coaches. We have this whole system in place and we have to make it an appealing job and an appealing process. There are so many people in our game that have great views and we want them in coaching. It can't always be someone else's fault. What do we need to do?"

Despite McCullum leading the way for the role, managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key has said the ECB needs to work on bringing through more homegrown coaches, admitting it is a failure of the ECB system there are not more English coaches up for the job."

Sky
 
I guess Rob Key was not kidding when he said it is ok for the head coach to not be available full time.

McCullum is currently coaching KKR. His salary at KKR is $450k+. I am sure the Eng job will pay more. Will he quit to take the Eng. job? Or keep the KKR job and take the Eng. job?
 
Wow, some fantastic options are on the table and looks like an incredibly strong field were progressed from the application stage through to interview.

Some genuinely exciting appointments are just around the corner for England. :)
 
Also some interesting comments from Rob Key about the poor quality of English coaches. Feels like another stake in the ground in terms of his longer term change planning, and also an acknowledgment that the previous England coach was simply not good enough for the role that he was given.
 
Brendon McCullum as a Test coach !

Well things won't be boring that's for sure.
 
Brendon it is then.

Great choice.

How and why is Brendon a great choice?

Specifically, what unique expertise has Brendon got that makes him a better coach than any random former international cricketer?

Appointments like these make me question what a job actually entails. It seems you're essentially a glorified captain except you put the cones out in the morning.
 
How and why is Brendon a great choice?

Specifically, what unique expertise has Brendon got that makes him a better coach than any random former international cricketer?

Appointments like these make me question what a job actually entails. It seems you're essentially a glorified captain except you put the cones out in the morning.

I think Brendon and Stokes have similar philosophy so they both should be on the same page.
 
How and why is Brendon a great choice?

Specifically, what unique expertise has Brendon got that makes him a better coach than any random former international cricketer?

Appointments like these make me question what a job actually entails. It seems you're essentially a glorified captain except you put the cones out in the morning.

My friend we are rock bottom of the World Test Championship and we have just endured several years of having Chris Silverwood as our head coach across all three formats.

Everything is relative. England fans are happy with any positive baby steps right now. Which means that a guy like Brendon coming in is close to a godsend at this point.
 
Impressive start to his stint with Srilanka with test series win in BD and now beating Aus in ODI series at home.
 
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