Former England international Luke Wright is reportedly set to become the ECB's new national selector, having emerged as the frontrunner after Alec Stewart withdrew from contention.
The role was scrapped when former Managing Director of England Men's Cricket Ashley Giles decided to make Ed Smith redundant last year, with head coach Chris Silverwood handed full responsibility over selection.
However, Giles' successor Rob Key was keen to reintroduce the role and the ECB began advertising for a national selector in September. Stewart, an England legend with over 300 international appearances, was originally considered the favourite having remained heavily involved in county cricket since his retirement through his role as Surrey's Director of Cricket.
But Stewart pulled out of the running earlier this month and, according to the Times, England are now set to appoint Wright. The 38-year-old made more than 100 appearances for England in ODI and T20I cricket, but never played Test cricket despite being named in several squads.
Since retiring from first-class cricket in 2019 after a 15-year career that saw him win the County Championship twice, Wright focused on T20 cricket and began a coaching career that has seen him work with Melbourne Stars, Rajshahi Kings, Auckland, Southern Vipers and the New Zealand national team.
Wright is still under contract with Sussex until the end of 2023, but will formally retire in order to take up his new role.
The report adds that the 37-year-old is currently in New Zealand and 'unlikely to start his ECB role until in the new year'. It also states that Key, who has been acting as a de facto national selector, is 'likely to remain on a panel alongside Wright'.
As part of his new role, Wright will also help select the England Lions and Under-19 squads and work with county coaches and directors to identify future England internationals.
England are set to end the year with a Test series against Pakistan, but will be back in action in January for a three-match ODI series against South Africa which was rearranged after England abandoned the original tour in 2020 early due to concerns over Covid-19.
