Andrew Strauss may yet miss out on Jason Gillespie, the favourite to fill the vacancy of England head coach, as a consequence of ending Kevin Pietersen’s hopes of an international return and the confirmation that Alastair Cook will continue as Test captain this summer.
Both of those decisions, along with Joe Root’s promotion to vice-captain, were made public by Strauss on Tuesday following his appointment as the director of England cricket but, crucially, were made without input from the person who will replace the dismissed Peter Moores.
Gillespie was confirmed as a candidate by Strauss and is the frontrunner for the vacancy after masterminding Yorkshire’s title win last season. But while the 40-year-old Australian remains open to talks – no official approach has yet been made – it is understood he will now need convincing that the job still wields sufficient power in the light of such decisions.
Removing the ability to consider Pietersen for selection this summer – a stance that has been made non-negotiable by the England and Wales Cricket Board – and the early call on Cook continuing in the Test role certainly makes the job a harder sell for Strauss, and he must persuade applicants they will still have a say in future big decisions.
Obeying diktats from on high is not how things work at Headingley, where the former fast bowler has full control over first-team matters alongside the captain, Andrew Gale. The director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, is in charge of the overall structure of the club but gets involved in selection only when a casting vote is required.
Gillespie, who normally speaks after Yorkshire’s matches, was shielded from the media on Wednesday after his side’s 305‑run win over Hampshire, and Moxon instead fielded questions on the future of his coach.
Moxon confirmed England have held off from talks while Yorkshire’s match was in progress. The club have been assured discussions will be handled in the “correct manner” when the expected approach comes.
While Yorkshire would demand compensation from the ECB for Gillespie’s services, it is understood his recently agreed contract to coach Adelaide Strikers in the Australia’s Big Bash League later this year – a role he had planned to run in conjunction with his job in county cricket – includes a break clause should he be offered an international position.
England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace, who worked with Gillespie at Yorkshire, will run the team in a caretaker role for the New Zealand series. While he will be retained, both he and Strauss agree he is not a likely candidate for the main job.
The ECB has chosen to remain silent on accusations of “lies” and “deceit” by Pietersen following Monday evening’s meeting with Strauss, leaving Colin Graves exposed to such questioning when he finally assumes the role of chairman at Thursday’s annual general meeting at Lord’s.
Pietersen, who struck a career-best of 355 not out against Leicestershire but spent Wednesday off the field with an achilles problem, used his Daily Telegraph column to hit out at the board following early-season encouragement to secure a county deal by Graves, which led him to join Surrey rather than play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Pietersen accused Graves of “leading him down the garden path” while similarly savaging the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, for arranging the meeting with Strauss despite previously telling him he wanted no such talks if it was simply to reiterate his continued exile from the national team. Pietersen added that his return to India, scheduled for Friday, would be a chance to plan his next move but the injury rules him out for two weeks and thereby the rest of the IPL.
The Pietersen affair and the bungled sacking of Moores last weekend will no doubt be discussed behind the scenes at the AGM in which the departing chairman, Giles Clarke, will officially hand over to Graves before moving into the newly created position of ECB president.Clarke, who will continue to represent English cricket at the International Cricket Council, is expected to give a valedictory speech that thanks his fellow board members for their support during his eight years in charge and hails Graves ahead of his five-year term that begins on Friday.
He will also use the opportunity to warn them about the threat of ’rebel’ cricket and the plans of Indian conglomerate Essel to create a breakaway form of the game that are understood to include the creation of an unofficial Twenty20 tournament.
Following his speech, a statement from Clarke will be published, in what will be his first official comment on the subject in his ICC capacity, with Essel-owned broadcasters Ten Sports – who have the rights to show home internationals in five Test-playing countries – also in the crosshairs over their involvement.
