Chris Silverwood has been sacked following England’s disastrous Ashes campaign, with the head coach departing after team director Ashley Giles was dismissed on Wednesday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has removed Silverwood after reviewing recommendations from a panel that included Andrew Strauss, who has taken over from Giles on an interim basis, and the governing body’s chief executive, Tom Harrison, following the 4-0 series defeat. Strauss will now appoint an interim coach to lead the upcoming tour of the West Indies.
“During his time in the role Chris has given absolutely everything to make a success of it,” Harrison said in the ECB’s statement. “He is a man of great integrity, who players and staff alike have enjoyed working with. Under Chris, England men’s white ball teams have been ranked first and second in the world while he also led the Test team to a number of series wins, including away in South Africa and Sri Lanka.”
“He has led the England men’s team with great resilience and empathy through an incredibly challenging period for English cricket, and he deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude,” Harrison added. “In the coming days, Andrew Strauss will appoint a caretaker coach for the tour of the West Indies and will then consider the appropriate coaching structures to help England move forwards.”
Giles met the ECB’s board of directors on Wednesday morning and was told his three-year spell in charge of the national team was terminated. Both men have paid the price for Test results that produced only one win from the team’s past 14 outings and ended with the failure in Australia.
QuickGuide
How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play store on Android phones by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sports notifications.
“It’s been an absolute honor to be England head coach, and I’m extremely proud to have worked alongside our players and staff,” Silverwood said. “I want to thank them all for the hard work and commitment they have given during my time in the role and I wish them all the very best moving forward.”
“The last two years have been very demanding but I have really enjoyed my time with the team and working with Rooty and Morgs, and I am very proud of this group considering the challenges. I leave with fond memories and I am now looking forward to spending some quality time at home with my family and embracing the next chapter.”
Silverwood joined the England setup as a bowling coach in 2018, and replaced Trevor Bayliss as head coach in October 2019. He came under renewed pressure as England’s attempt to regain the Ashes floundered within 12 days and they subsequently concluded their third consecutive tour Down Under without winning a Test.
Amid batting travails, questionable selections and tactical errors, Giles had publicly sought to blame exhausting scheduling and Covid bubbles for the poor performances. But following the panel’s review, and with a Test squad needing to be picked for the forthcoming tour of the Caribbean next week, the end has come swiftly on Silverwood’s two-year tenure.
The ECB has yet to announce whether Silverwood’s assistant and batting coach, Graham Thorpe, will stay in the England setup or join the head coach in leaving.
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism