Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson is reportedly one of the 'favoured candidates' to coach England 's Test team.
New Managing Director of England Men's Cricket Rob Key is widely expected to split the head coach role between red and white ball cricket. And the Daily Mail are reporting that Gibson has emerged as a contender for the Test job.
The 53-year-old was appointed Yorkshire head coach back in January, signing a three-year deal with the county. He has previously worked as England bowling coach across two stints between 2007 and 2010 and then 2015 and 2017.
The report states that Gibson 'formed a strong rapport with several of England's senior players' during his second spell, including Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler.
It is also claimed that several players were 'disappointed' that he was not named head coach in 2019, with Chris Silverwood getting the job instead.
Sri Lankan duo Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardene are also mentioned as potential candidates, with Jayawardene expected to be a contender to coach the one-day and T20 sides. Australia legend Ricky Ponting is also said to be 'top of Key's wishlist', but his appointment would be an unlikely one.
Speaking to the Grade Cricketer podcast last year, Ponting revealed he was approached to coach India but turned it down, citing an unwillingness to spend long amounts of time away from his family.
He said: "I had a couple of conversations with some people during the IPL about it [the India job]. The people I spoke to were pretty hell-bent on finding a way to make it work.
"The first thing I said was 'I just can't give up that time, it will mean I can’t coach in the IPL, I'll have to give up [Channel] 7 stuff, it just can't work'. It's nice to have people thinking you might be able to do these big jobs but there's a lot more to come with it than saying yes or no to a coaching gig.
"I'd love to coach the Australian team, but I have a young family now and to give up 300 days a year is not what I would do. That's where the IPL works so well for me."
