Ashley Giles sacked as England team director after dismal Ashes campaign

Ashley Giles has become the first casualty from England’s chastening, error-strewn defeat in the men’s Ashes this winter after being sacked as director of men’s cricket and replaced by Andrew Strauss on an interim basis.Giles met with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday after recently submitting his report into the failed tour and was told his three-year spell in charge of the national team was being terminated with immediate effect.

It now comes down to Strauss, who Giles replaced in 2019, to decide the fate of Chris Silverwood as head coach looking ahead to the tour of the Caribbean in March. Both Silverwood and Graham Thorpe, the assistant coach, appear unlikely to survive after a sorry run of Test results that produced one win from the team’s last 14 outings and ended with the 4-0 defeat in Australia.

A statement from the ECB read: “Ashley Giles is standing down as managing director, England men’s cricket. Ashley is leaving after three years in the role during which England Men became 50-over World Champions and are currently ranked the world’s best T20I side, 2nd in ODIs and 4th for Tests.

“Sir Andrew Strauss has agreed to step into the role on an interim basis and will put in place arrangements for the forthcoming West Indies tour, while the search begins for a full-time replacement.”

“I’d like to thank everyone for the support they’ve given me, particularly all the staff and the players, as well as the board for giving me this opportunity,” Giles said. “The past couple of years have been incredibly challenging and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to deliver in the toughest of circumstances.”

“Despite these challenges, over the past three years, we have become 50-over world champions, the top