Neither of England’s new head coaches will be homegrown after Paul Collingwood, interim lead on the two most recent tours, was passed over for the role of white-ball boss.
Matthew Mott, the highly-successful coach of Australia’s all-conquering women’s team, is set to be confirmed in the job tomorrow, linking up with Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain who was confirmed as Test coach last week.
The pair worked together at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and are also well known to Rob Key, the new managing director, who believes strong relationships between split coaches is vital. The last time England went down this route, between 2012 and 2014, Andy Flower and Ashley Giles’ relationship became strained.
Collingwood has been a key part of England’s setup under Trevor Bayliss and Chris Silverwood, but this puts his future in some doubt. He will join the coaching staff for the Test series against New Zealand next month, but whether he has the appetite to remain with England after being overlooked remains to be seen.
McCullum’s coaching stint with KKR ends tomorrow with their final game of this IPL season, and he will join Key and new Test captain Ben Stokes via video link today to select the first Test squad of a new era. They will be supported by head scout James Taylor, performance director Mo Bobat, and David Court, who runs Talent ID.
Even in such fresh circumstances, it will be an awkward squad to pick, with a raft of fast bowling injuries – Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher became the latest to see their seasons ended yesterday, by stress fractures of the back – and spaces to fill in the top order.
In-form, uncapped county players such as Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, Durham’s Matty Potts, Essex’s Sam Cook, and Surrey’s Jamie Overton appear in line for Test debuts.
