betting odds next england cricket captainEngland coach and captain contenders： Who could Rob Key go for to lead Test turnaround？
Following on from the appointment of Rob Key as the new managing director of England men’s cricket, the attention now turns to the two biggest jobs immediately waiting for him in his new role.
Namely, who is going to be England’s new head coach? And who will be the new captain of the Test team after Joe Root stepped down from the job last week?
Here we take a look at some of the leading contenders for both positions as Key’s tenure gets under way…
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Justin Langer resigned as head coach of Australia in February after turning down a short-term contract extension
Firstly, Key has to decide whether England split the head coaching role for red ball and white ball.
Langer is well qualified in either capacity, and the way in which he spectacularly led Australia to victory in the 2021 T20 World Cup and then an emphatic 4-0 Ashes triumph over England a few months later suggests he could be the ideal appointment under a wider brief.
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Langer’s success came at a price, however. He resigned in February after turning down a short-term extension to stay in the role and amid rumours of growing player unrest over his coaching style.
Key even told Sky Sports at the time: “He’s a bit of hard taskmaster, but they’ve come back from sandpaper-gate, they’ve won the T20 World Cup and they’ve won the Ashes easily.”
A hard taskmaster indeed, but could that be precisely what this England team needs?
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Gary Kirsten's last international head coaching role with South Africa came to an end in 2013
It feels like Kirsten has forever been on the precipice of the England job, having previously applied in 2015 and 2019 before ultimately losing out to Trevor Bayliss and Chris Silverwood.
His credentials speak for themselves, with Kirsten guiding India to victory in the 2011 World Cup before then taking his native South Africa to the top of the Test rankings a year later.
One potential stumbling block is the fact that Kirsten has not coached at international level since leaving the Proteas in 2013 due to family commitments, and he has since stressed he’d only return in a split-coaching capacity.
But the Test job certainly appeals to him, with Kirsten telling the i newspaper in December: “Your Test side has battled for a while, but it would be a really lovely project to get that going.
”There’s a lot that needs to be put in place to build this Test team out. Maybe the time has come for England to say that Test cricket is their focus.”
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Mahela Jayawardene has had a previous coaching stint with England as a batting consultant
A slightly more left-field contender could be the great Sri Lankan batsman Jayawardene.
Though he is lacking head coaching experience at international level, Jayawardene has established himself as one of the world’s top up-and-coming coaches by winning three IPL titles with Mumbai Indians since 2017, while he also led Southern Brave to victory in the first season of The Hundred.
It has left Key suitably impressed, as he told Sky Sports previously: “Someone like Mahela Jayawardene would be perfect if you’re looking for someone from overseas.”
His credentials perhaps point to him being more of an option for the white-ball side. However, Jayawardene impressed in a role as batting consultant with the England team during the 2015-16 winter and he has recently signed on for a similar position in the Sri Lanka set-up.
Given England’s recent batting struggles in red-ball cricket, they could do worse than hand over the reins to a man with 11,814 runs to his name in Tests.
Paul Collingwood is likely the leading English candidate, having served as interim head coach for the most recent tour of the West Indies. Highly thought of at the ECB, though his ties to the previous regime as an assistant coach might count against him.
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Could former Australian captain Ricky Ponting be persuaded to take on the job as England head coach?
Ricky Ponting has previously been talked up for the role by none other than Key himself, but he even admitted that convincing the proud Australian to take the job could be another matter.
Key told Sky Sports: “You talk about international experience, the class he has; the ideal person is someone who wouldn’t want to do the job for love nor money, someone like Ricky Ponting.”
Stephen Fleming. The Kiwi coach is another who has built a fine reputation for himself in the various franchise tournaments around the world, and his appointment would continue in the theme of England looking to the example set by New Zealand after their approach helped inspire their red-ball reset in 1999 and white-ball turnaround in 2015.
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Ben Stokes is the favourite to be named England's next Test captain
Root’s vice-captain and the obvious choice to replace him.
That said, England’s talismanic all-rounder only recently returned from a lengthy break from cricket last year “to prioritise his mental wellbeing”, and the question is whether the timing is right for the 30-year-old to take on the Test captaincy.
Stokes said as recently as January he “never really had an ambition to be a captain”, but that statement should also be seen in the context of a loyal Root supporter sticking up for his skipper and friend as he came up under fire following England’s Ashes humiliation.
Confirmation of England’s next captain is not likely to come until after the appointment of the new head coach, but Nasser Hussain has urged Key to sound out Stokes ahead of time.
”I would make a journey up the A1 to speak to Ben Stokes to see where he is mentally, physically, and if he wants the job and feels he’s in the right place to do the job,” Hussain told Sky Sports News.
Ultimately, if Stokes answers in the affirmative on those fronts, the job is surely his.
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Stuart Broad has appeared to rule himself out of the captaincy as he instead focuses on reclaiming his Test spot
The list of alternative candidates is far from plentiful, with many not even assured of their place in the Test team, let alone the captaincy.
Broad, himself, was controversially overlooked – along with long-time bowling partner-in-crime James Anderson – for the Test tour of the West Indies, and he seemed to distance himself from the role in his column in the Mail on Sunday.
Broad said: “It is not something I have given any thought to because firstly I am not currently in possession of a shirt within the England Test team and my focus is very much on changing that by taking wickets for Nottinghamshire over the next few weeks.
”In fact, I would argue we are in a fairly unique position as far as selection for the Test team goes right now in that there are only two players [Root and Stokes] whose names you could write in pen on the scorecard.”
Appointing the 35-year-old wouldn’t represent the most long-term of strategies, but he is a long-admired student of the game and would be well capable of taking the reins during this testing period for the Test team – if he does indeed regain his spot in the side first of all.
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Sam Billings has played only one Test match for England but could he have an outside shot at the captaincy?
The Kent connection.
An outside pick for sure, especially given his only Test cap came on the final Test of that dismal Ashes tour and only after injuries to Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow saw him drafted in as emergency cover.
Billings immediately lost the gloves to Ben Foakes for the West Indies tour, but the Surrey man didn’t exactly grasp the opportunity to cement his spot in the side, so Billings could well be back in contention come the summer.
Key will know all too well of his qualities both as a player and as a leader from their time together in the Kent dressing room and, while that connection is no guarantee of a future at Test level, Billings spoke recently of how “I’ve got a taste of Test cricket now and it’s something I really want to pursue”.
Into his fifth year as captain of Kent, Billings led the club to victory in the T20 Blast last year, the County Championship Division Two title in 2018, as well to the final of the One-Day Cup that year. Could it be his captaincy credentials that aid an England recall?
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Jos Buttler was dropped from the England Test team after the 4-0 Ashes defeat over the winter
Jos Buttler: Sticking with the wicketkeeper theme, Buttler has shown himself to be a more-than-able understudy to Eoin Morgan as captain of the white-ball side and Key is a long-time admirer of the dynamic batsman. Consistent runs at Test level have proven hard to come by, but he’d no doubt prove a popular leader among his England peers.
Jonny Bairstow is also another former England gloveman, but those days are now surely behind him as he seems to have cemented his spot bat in the Test team as a pure out-and-out batsman with hundreds in consecutive Tests across the tours of Australia and the West Indies. As one of the few probably assured of his place, could he be a surprise captaincy contender?
Rory Burns: Similar to Billings, he has built himself a fine reputation as a captain in county cricket, leading Surrey to the County Championship title in 2018. He has recently lost his Test spot, but he does have three Test tons to his name to show he can cut it at the highest level.
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Former South Africa batter Gary Kirsten is second favourite in the betting and has a compelling coaching CV.
He was at the helm as the Proteas reached the top of the world Test rankings in 2012, a year after guiding India to a coveted World Cup crown.
Kirsten missed out the last time the England job was up for grabs after botching the interview and being leapfrogged by Silverwood but has already indicated an interest in coming back to the table, if red and white-ball coaching duties were split.
Also in the running is Paul Collingwood, who led England to their first ever global trophy at the 2010 World Twenty20 and has been assistant, alongside Graham Thorpe, since Silverwood assumed power in 2019.
But with England having their fingers burned by promoting from within in Silverwood, they are unlikely to do so again this betting odds next england cricket captainEngland cricket head coach odds： Alec Stewart favourite to succeed Chris Silverwood soon.
betting odds next england cricket captainEngland Cricket Odds： Stokes wants “fun” with England
In the first match of the new era, England defeated New Zealand at Lord’s by five wickets as they try betting odds next england cricket captainEngland cricket head coach odds： Alec Stewart favourite to succeed Chris Silverwood and ascend back to the top of the Test format.
The win followed a run of just one victory in 17 Test matches – a sequence which ultimately led to Joe Root stepping down as captain and Chris Silverwood losing his job as coach.
Experienced bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson were brought back into the fold while the likes of Matthew Potts and Alex Lees adding some youthful exuberance to the mix.
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Freed from the shackles of the captaincy, Root’s unbeaten 115 proved to be the difference in the end as England triumphed with a day to spare.
Now, they could look to wrap up the three-Test series (Series outright – England 1/3, draw 9/2, New Zealand 13/2) at Trent Bridge with the match starting on Friday.
New Zealand will be hoping for much better after a poor display, particularly from their top-order batters.
Stokes believes a new positive atmosphere is being instilled in the camp and feels ex-Black Caps international McCullum is part of the reason why.
“Sometimes the pressure of being an international cricketer, delivering performances on a weekly basis, can get challenging,” he said.
“At the end of the day, when you’re playing for your country, first and foremost is to make sure you have as much fun as you possibly can.”
On the coach, the Durham all-rounder added: “That energy Baz has brought has been a lift for everyone. It’s been great having his enthusiasm around the group.”
England have named an unchanged XI for the Trent Bridge Test with spinner Jack Leach declared fit to play after a concussion ruled him out no day one and he was replaced by Lancashire’s Matt Parkinson.
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betting odds next england cricket captainJoe Root quits as England Test captain and says ‘timing is right’ after Ashes failure and West Indies series defeat
Joe Root has stepped down as captain of the England Test team.
Root was named as Sir Alastair Cook’s successor in 2017 and holds the record for the most victories as England captain with 27.
However, his role came under great scrutiny after a dismal run of results this winter.
England were thrashed 4-0 in the Ashes, a series that cost coach Chris Silverwood his job.
Root survived as captain, but things did not improve in the West Indies and a defeat in the Caribbean has led to the 31-year-old deciding to step down.
Root said: “After returning from the Caribbean tour and having time to reflect, I have decided to step down as England Men’s Test Captain. It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right.
“I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket.
“I have loved leading my country, but recently it’s hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank my family, Carrie, Alfred and Bella, who have lived it all with me and been incredible pillars of love and support throughout. All of the players, coaches and support staff that have helped me during my tenure. It has been a great privilege to have been with them on this journey.
“I would also like to thank all the England supporters for their unwavering support. We are lucky to have the best fans in the world, and wherever we play, that positivity is something we always cherish and admire, which is a huge drive for all of us out there.
“I am excited to continue representing the Three Lions and producing performances that will enable the team to succeed. I look forward to helping the next captain, my teammates and coaches in whatever way I can.”
Root led England to a number of famous victories, including a 4-1 home win over India in 2018 and a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa in 2020.
In 2018 he became the first England men’s captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, a feat he went on to repeat with a 2-0 victory in Sri Lanka in 2021.betting odds next england cricket captainEngland cricket head coach odds： Alec Stewart favourite to succeed Chris Silverwood