REVEALED: Stewart keen to take caretaker charge of England Test team
REVEALED: Alec Stewart is keen to take caretaker charge of England’s Test team in West Indies next month if Chris Silverwood is sacked… and he’d be the PERFECT fit to revive under-performing batsman, ideally working under Andrew Strauss
- Strauss set to recommend on how England can recover from Ashes humiliation
- England coach Chris Silverwood and his assistant Graham Thorpe face the sack
- Alec Stewart is keen to take caretaker charge of the Test team in the West Indies
If Andrew Strauss is the perfect man to make the big decisions that will define England’s immediate Test future then the ideal candidate to help could be right under his nose.
The ECB board were on Tuesday night set to act on Strauss’s recommendations on how England can recover from the worst of all their Ashes humiliations, with coach Chris Silverwood and his assistant Graham Thorpe, at least, expected to pay the price with their jobs.
But the big question then is where Strauss will turn next, particularly if the highly-respected former England captain decides that Ashley Giles, the man who replaced him as managing director, must also go after handing Silverwood unprecedented selectorial power.
Alec Stewart (left) keen to take caretaker charge of England’s Test team, under Andrew Strauss
The answer resides at the Oval, where one of England’s most experienced former players can be found still imparting the knowledge he gained during 133 Tests to the current generation at his beloved Surrey as director of cricket.
Sportsmail reported that Alec Stewart is under consideration to become interim coach. And Strauss should turn now to a man who is the epitome of the professionalism and cricketing wisdom England so desperately need.
Time is running out before England must pick their squad to take on West Indies in a three-Test series in March and the leadership vacuum is acute at the ECB, who are currently without a chair and with chief executive Tom Harrison under huge pressure.
That leaves Strauss, making his return to administration initially as chair of the ECB cricket committee, as kingmaker with the power to decide what and who comes next — even to the enviable extent of being able to choose what role he plays himself in the future.
Stewart would be the perfect fit to revive under-performing batters like Ollie Pope (above)
An ideal scenario would be for Strauss to return to the team director role he was forced to give up in the most tragic of circumstances after the death of his wife Ruth. And for him to bring in Stewart as Test coach for the Caribbean tour and probably the summer.
That would give Stewart time to restore pride and core values into England’s hopelessly under-performing batters while being the perfect senior figure to ease the pressure and responsibility on the shoulders of captain Joe Root.
Strauss would then have time to cast his net wider and look at the options available in the long term for England, with Graham Ford, Gary Kirsten and, intriguingly, maybe even Justin Langer as candidates. He must also identify the best person to coach the white-ball teams if, as expected, the roles are again to be split.
Stewart was invited to throw his hat into the ring before Giles appointed Silverwood and, after initially expressing an interest, decided to withdraw from the race because of family reasons.
Those same issues could again stop him doing the job all year round but a short-term rescue act is a different proposition.
Coach Chris Silverwood could pay the price for England’s Ashes humiliation this winter
For all the attention on England’s technical issues in the Ashes it is the mental side of the game and the lack of discipline that seems to have permeated their camp in Australia that Stewart could immediately address.
There is no one better, for instance, than Stewart to restore Ollie Pope to the calm and classy batter seen at the Oval rather than the frenetic, technical mess of the Ashes.
There would be no room for any of the fitness issues that dogged Ollie Robinson for one towards the end of the Ashes. At 58, Stewart remains as fit as ever and is in the gym every morning before beginning his day at the Oval.
And there would certainly be no room for the drinking culture that seemed to be rife among the coaches more than the players in Australia and which could yet cost Paul Collingwood his chance of becoming full-time white-ball coach.
The highly-regarded South African Ford is not thought to be a candidate in the short-term but could well be available this winter. So too could Langer, who seems increasingly likely to leave his role with Australia when his contract ends in July.
Silverwood is facing the sack for the catalogue of errors that led to the 4-0 thrashing
It does seem extraordinary that Langer is being forced out by his players despite leading them to Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes success in the last four months but clearly his disciplinarian methods are not to current Australian tastes.
That would not be an issue for England, who look sure to turn to someone more in the mould of Duncan Fletcher or Andy Flower than the relaxed style of Silverwood.
Is Langer simply too Australian to consider coaching England? Perhaps. But might he also relish the opportunity to prove his native country wrong in jettisoning him? Quite possibly.
For now England need someone who can pick their Caribbean squad next week — and Stewart is believed to prefer the supremo system as long as the incumbent is surrounded by scouts who can question him — and respond to England’s hour of need.
Unless Silverwood is given the most unexpected of reprieves there is no one better than proud Englishman Stewart, who has seen it all with club and country.
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