England v Ireland, Lord’s Captain, Leader, Manager Morgan Eoin would be a great coach, says chief Giles
ENGLAND team director Ashley Giles wants to fasttrack World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan into management – when he quits playing.
But Giles knows his most immediate task is to replace current head coach Trevor Bayliss, who leaves next month.
Former England spinner Giles said: “Internal candidates will be considered – it would be great to have an English coach in charge.
Favourite
“We have had only one – Peter Moores – in the last 20 years, and it would be a preference. Most importantly, though, we want the best man for the job, wherever they come from.
“It’s a great job, and whoever it is must really want to be the head coach of England.
“Informal conversations have already taken place, but the formal process hasn’t started. That would only be a distraction during the course of an Ashes series, and I don’t want that.
“We don’t have to rush. If we haven’t appointed someone by the time of the first winter tour in New Zealand in October we can have an interim coach.”
The leading internal candidate is bowling coach Chris Silverwood, who won the 2017 County Championship with Essex. .
He must be t he favourite, although
Surrey director of cricket
Alec Stewart is also a strong possibility.
Yet another overseas s boss like Jason Gillespie or Tom Moody appears increasingly unlikely.
Giles, one of the heroes of the famous 2005 Ashes series win, has control of overall England strategy, and a vital conversation will come with one-day skipper Morgan once the dust has settled on the World Cup glory.
“I will take him out for a bite to eat and reflect on everything to do with the World Cup,” says Giles ( below). “Eoin was a f antastic captain in t he tournament, and I want to hear what he thinks about the future.
“He still has so much to offer as a player, and also in the longer term as a coach.
“He would make a superb coach, and hopefully within the England set-up down the line. He’s the kind of man you want to stay involved.
“You want to use his cricket intelligence and leadership skills rather than see them go to other p parts of the game like the me media.”
There is a particular pride in the voice of Giles as he considers the World Cup triumph.
“Winning such tournaments is about inspiring future generations to play the game,” he explained.
“And that will be a legacy for all these players. So will the team culture they have created in the past couple of years, a culture of the right behaviour on and off the field. I have never seen it driven so much from below, by the players themselves rather than being imposed from above. It’s a huge credit to them.”
Two summers ago the England cricket team was mired in scandal when Ben Stokes was arrested following a late-night incident outside a nightclub in Bristol.
It drove a general rethink on team values, with Morgan and Test skipper Joe Root in the vanguard. “They have been so impressive,” says Giles. “Players are not perfect.
Priority
“They will make mistakes. But they have put in so much effort, and it is a fitting reward to win the World Cup.”
England have been a on fouryear mission to win that elusive prize. Now another cycle starts, with t he i naugural Tes t Championship kicked off by the Ashes, and a couple of T20 World tournaments in the next two years.
“The priority will be T20,” says Giles. “It’s great to win a trophy – now we have to do it again. That’s sport. It never stands still.”