ECB announce Chris Silverwood as England's head coach

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has finalised Chris Silverwood as the head coach of the Men’s team. He was the bowling coach of the team when Trevor Bayliss was at the helm and will now take charge from the latter having promoted to the top position. Silverwood’s first assignment with England team will be the New Zealand tour where they are scheduled to play five T20Is and a couple of Test matches.

Silverwood faced strong competition from the World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten who also gave a presentation on Wednesday last week. Alec Stewart was the favourite though to be appointed as the head coach. But he pulled out of the process at the last moment due to personal issues.

Chris Silverwood has now been promoted from bowling coach to head coach. The ECB’s selection panel comprising of Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison, Managing Director of England’s Men’s Cricket Ashley Giles and Head of Coach Development John Neal agreed unanimously over his appointment.

Chris was the standout candidate

“We are delighted to confirm Chris as England Men’s Head Coach. We have gone through a thorough process and looked at all the options that were available to us. Chris was the standout candidate. I believe he is what we need to take our international teams forward.

He is somebody we know well, but it is his intimate understanding of our structures and systems and his close relationships with Test captain Joe Root and white-ball captain Eoin Morgan that will help us develop our plans for the next few years. He has performed exceptionally well during his role as an assistant coach and has the ultimate respect of the players’ that have worked with him,” Ashley Giles according to ECB’s official website.

Chris Silverwood has worked with the players in the recent past and enjoys the camaraderie he shares with them. He is also looking forward to building the team towards the future. “I aim to continue the great work that has been done over the past five years and build on our future, especially in the Test arena. I have enjoyed working with the players over the past two seasons, and developing the best crop of talent in the English game.

“I am excited to get started and build teams’ that the whole game can be proud of. There is a tremendous amount of talent coming through, and there is enormous potential for growth. The hard work starts now, and I am confident we can make a positive impact during our winter tours of New Zealand and South Africa,” he further added.

Watch – 5 Times when Virat Kohli was trolled by Indian fans