Matthew Mott has stepped down as England's white-ball head coach after two years in charge, with Marcus Trescothick taking over on an interim basis; could the ex-England batter be a candidate to take permanent charge, or perhaps his former team-mate Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff?
Wednesday 31 July 2024 06:09, UK
With the news that Matthew Mott has stepped down as England white-ball coach, we asses some of the leading contenders who might be catching the eye of men's managing director Rob Key.
Certainly the favourite for the role, with the former England captain and talismanic all-rounder making encouraging early steps into coaching over the past year.
Flintoff, who spent a significant period out of the spotlight after suffering serious facial injuries in a car crash while filming television show Top Gear, was invited by his good friend Key to join the England coaching set-up during last year's Ashes and has since taken on roles with the white-ball side as well as the England Lions and Under-19s, where his 16-year-old son Rocky has been playing a starring role.
Flintoff is also currently leading the Northern Superchargers' men's side in The Hundred and Key, as recently as March, talked up his potential as a head coach.
"He will be a worthy candidate going forward," Key told the Daily Telegraph. "When that time comes and whoever is in this job, and it might be outside of my time, they would be stupid not to look at him.
"Flintoff is a leader like [Ben] Stokes. He is not going to need to learn leadership qualities."
The present incumbent, with Key certainly giving the former England and Somerset opener his backing on an interim basis for the rest of the home summer - at least - while the search for Mott's successor is put into action.
But could Trescothick do a Gareth Southgate and claim the job on a more permanent basis with strong showings in the five one-day internationals and three T20Is against Australia in September which he is likely to oversee?
There's certainly no better way to endear yourself to cricket lovers in England than by beating the Aussies.
Trescothick's relationship with Jos Buttler, who was coming up through the ranks as a youngster at Somerset in the twilight of his career, could be a clincher, as England look to find the right chemistry between the new coach and retained captain.
Key even highlighted this in the press release to accompany Mott's departure, saying the pair "have a good rapport, and I think their partnership will help us maintain continuity and stability."
It's a reason why Sangakkara could be a contender for the job, with the former Sri Lanka captain having worked very closely with Buttler over the last four hugely fruitful years of his seven-year stint with the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
Sangakkara took over the side in 2021, and every single one of Buttler's seven IPL centuries that places him second all-time in the tournament (behind only Virat Kohli's eight) have come under Sangakkara's watch.
And the improvement has not just been confined to Buttler; Sangakkara has led the Royals to the playoffs in two of his four years in charge - only just missing out on the top four in 2023 - and including a first finals appearance in 14 years before being defeated by Gujarat Titans in 2022.
And the IPL is somewhere Key has ploughed previously for coaching talent, with Test top dog Brendon McCullum coming into the job from a three-year stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Sangakkara's former Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardena was heavily touted for the white-ball role in 2022 before it was given to Mott after overseeing three IPL titles in four years while in charge of Mumbai Indians.
Former Australia batter Hussey is another to have had coaching experience in the IPL, albeit as a batting consultant. But he is currently serving as head coach in The Hundred with the Welsh Fire men's team, and impressively too.
Hussey took over a team that went winless in 2022 and coaxed four victories out of them last year in only just missing out of the playoffs, while their 2024 tournament also got off to a winning start.
Hussey isn't the only contender from the ECB's 100-ball tournament, with the likes of Daniel Vettori (Birmingham Phoenix), Stephen Fleming (Southern Brave) and Simon Katich (Manchester Originals) all having enjoyed success us guns for hire in various franchise tournaments around the globe which has seen them linked to England in the past.
But Hussey might be the pick of the bunch, again due to stronger ties to Buttler, developed when taking up a batting consultant role during England's T20 World Cup win in Australia in 2022.
Whether the proud Aussie could be tempted into leading England in a more prominent position remains to be seen though? Ricky Ponting, for example, was reported to have been offered the role of head coach back in 2022 but turned it down.
If tempted to look at someone a little closer to home, could the former England batter and current Afghanistan head coach be an outside option?
The dogged determination of Trott and the quiet accumulation which punctuated his admittedly decorated international career doesn't exactly scream out contender to lead this England white-ball team and their gung-ho approach to the game… BUT, he has certainly proven his credentials while in charge of Afghanistan.
Trott has overseen a drastic improvement in the team's results at the same global events in which England's struggles have led to Mott's departure.
Afghanistan beat Mott's outfit by 69 runs at the 2023 50-over World Cup on their way to a sixth-place finish (England, seventh) and then matched their run to the semi-finals at the 2024 T20 World Cup after a stunning tournament which included wins over New Zealand and Australia.
Despite such success, Trott is likely to be, at best, an outside bet for the England white-ball role.
This is the man Key is said to want or have wanted, with Morgan having led the most successful era of white-ball cricket in England's history when captaining them to a first-ever 50-over World Cup title in thrilling fashion in 2019.
But Morgan, who only stepped down as skipper in 2022 before retiring from all cricket a year later, appears to have already ruled himself out of the role, having told Sky Sports last week: "The timing for everything in my life at the moment is not right."
At that stage, however, Mott was still in charge despite the speculation surrounding his future. Could one final, last-ditch phone call from Key tempt him into a different decision?
Or perhaps, with Trescothick holding down the fort on an interim basis for the rest of the summer, might the timing be better for Morgan to step in at the back-end of the year or in 2025?
England are next in action in a three-Test series against Sri Lanka that gets under way at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday August 21. Watch live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am (first ball bowled at 11am).
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