England abolish national selector’s post; head coach to pick squads

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has shelved the post of the national selector, meaning that Ed Smith will be leaving his position at the end of April. The responsibility of picking the national squads now lies with head coach Chris Silverwood. Captains Joe Root and Eoin Morgan will be helping him in picking the playing elevens.

Ashley Giles, the managing director of England’s men’s cricket, has put forth the system to give greater accountability to Silverwood as the national head coach. Earlier, Smith was in charge of the selection panel with Silverwood and James Taylor as the other two selectors.

Taylor will be working with a number of scouts in the county circuit and will have his job title changed to ‘head scout’. His work will help in the selection process along with feedback from Mo Bobat, the performance director.

Ashley Giles speaks about the change in England cricket

“I would like to personally thank Ed for his contribution to the England men’s teams over the past three years. The current process of selecting England teams has been in place for over 120 years,” Giles said in a statement, reported by Cricbuzz.

“Even though this system has its merits, with advances in technology and a greater information gathering resource at our disposal than ever before, the restructure is in the best interests of helping England men’s teams be successful.

“The new structure also makes lines of accountability much clearer, with Chris Silverwood, as head coach, taking ultimate responsibility for picking England senior men’s squads,” he added.

Back in 2019, England won the 2019 World Cup with Smith as the national selector. However, following the tours of Sri Lanka and India, the selection panel came under fire for not picking their best set of players.

Smith, who was appointed back in 2018 by then Managing Director Andrew Strauss, expressed his gratitude for working with England cricket over the last three years or so.

“At such a high point for England cricket, I wish Ashley Giles, the coaches and all support staff good fortune over the coming months. I know how hard Ashley and his team work for England cricket. In particular, I’d like to wish Chris Silverwood good luck and every success going forward,” Smith said.

England next international assignment is the two-match Test series against New Zealand in June with matches at the Lord’s and Edgbaston.