Paul Collingwood set to lead England on the tour to West Indies as interim coach next month

Paul Collingwood is set to lead England on the tour to West Indies as interim coach next month as Andrew Strauss steps up search for new coach and supremo following departures of Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles

  • Paul Collingwood expected to lead England on the tour to the West Indies
  • England’s assistant coach is currently in Barbados on holiday with his daughters
  • An interim move would avoid a complete overhaul of the current coaching staff
  • Andrew Strauss will seek to accelerate changes to the management structure 


Paul Collingwood is expected to be appointed interim England head coach for next month’s Test series against West Indies.

As the Ashes fall-out took in a fourth casualty in as many days — this time on the other side of cricket’s most entrenched rivalry as Justin Langer quit as Australia head coach — Sir Andrew Strauss accelerated plans for both short and long-term changes to England’s management structure.

Collingwood’s upgrade from assistant coach would avoid a complete overhaul of the current coaching staff and allow interim managing director Strauss breathing space to focus on identifying personnel and refining the set-up for the home international season, starting in June.

England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood is currently in Barbados on holiday

Langer will be of interest when considering Chris Silverwood’s successor.

Collingwood did not return to the UK after overseeing an England shadow side’s 3-2 Twenty20 defeat to the Windies, remaining in Barbados to have a holiday with his three daughters.

The 45-year-old left Australia at the start of the Adelaide Test in mid-December, 11 weeks after heading to Dubai to form the first of several England winter bubbles with the Twenty20 World Cup squad.

His credentials as the first man to lead England to a global trophy in 2010 and someone whose cricket brain continues to shape limited-overs international thinking, mean that he will be a strong candidate to become white-ball coach after Strauss hinted it is time to split coaching responsibilities again.

Andrew Strauss will accelerate plans for changes to England’s management structure

Andrew Strauss will accelerate plans for changes to England’s management structure 

Should he mastermind only a second series win in the Caribbean for 54 years next month, he may even have designs on the Test job.

Richard Dawson, who led England Under 19s to this weekend’s World Cup final, is also set to be involved in preparing the team for those three matches.

Langer effectively entered the job market on Saturday when he resigned following a Cricket Australia board meeting.

Appointed at an all-time low in Australian cricket history in 2018, his brief was to clean up the grubby image of a national team that had already become a national embarrassment by the time the ball-tampering scandal at Newlands turned the rest of the world’s eyes upon it.

Chris Silverwood (above) was dismissed as head coach following the Ashes thrashing

Chris Silverwood (above) was dismissed as head coach following the Ashes thrashing

Four years on, Australia are ranked No 1 in Test cricket, sit second in its current World Championship standings, came within one wicket of an Ashes whitewash and are Twenty20 world champions for the first time.

Langer was offered the chance to defend that latter title on home soil later this year via a six-month contract extension. Talk about a back-handed compliment.

Yesterday, former players like Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden lambasted the Australian board for its insulting actions towards a coach who over recent months was undermined by player power.

Firm leadership is what England now appear in desperate need of amid accusations that the dressing room has become too cosy, and Strauss spoke on Friday of the benefits of a voice being introduced from outside.

Ashley Giles also lost his job as England's managing director this week in the overhaul

Ashley Giles also lost his job as England’s managing director this week in the overhaul

Those close to the 51-year-old Langer believe he is too much of a patriot to sign up with the old enemy but recent events plus a lucrative deal to revive England’s Test fortunes could put that theory under strain.

Strauss did little to discount his former Middlesex team-mate on Friday when addressing the further recommendations he’d be making to the ECB board for a new managing director, and coaching team, after his initial input led to the sackings of Ashley Giles, Silverwood and Graham Thorpe.

The first task will be to identify a new supremo. Strauss himself cannot commit to a full-time role due to family circumstances, leaving Surrey’s Alec Stewart and Tom Moody among the favourites.

Former Australia coach Justin Langer is likely to be in the frame to succeed Silverwood

Former Australia coach Justin Langer is likely to be in the frame to succeed Silverwood

However, anyone coming into such a position would justifiably demand influence on various issues including having some input into changes in the county game designed to better prepare players for the international scene.

The field will include Gary Kirsten, Mahela Jayawardene, potentially Andrew McDonald but not in all likelihood two-time Championship-winning coach Jason Gillespie, whose knowledge of English cricket is offset by his young family being settled in Adelaide.

For now, however, Strauss will form a panel to select the Test squad for games in Antigua, Barbados and Grenada that provide a chance for them to climb off the foot of the WTC table.

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