England ditch coach Chris Silverwood after Ashes failure

by Julian Guyer

London - England coach Chris Silverwood paid the price for the team's woeful Ashes series loss in Australia by leaving his post on Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced.

Silverwood's departure came a day after Ashley Giles, who appointed him in 2019, was sacked from his role of England managing director men's cricket.

England's 4-0 reverse in Australia means they have now won just one of their last 14 Tests, albeit Silverwood's tenure coincided with the coronavirus pandemic.

Former England captain Andrew Strauss has replaced Giles on a temporary basis and will oversee the appointment of an interim coach for the tour of the West Indies in March "in the coming days", according to ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.

Harrison said Silverwood had given "absolutely everything" to make a success of the job, pointing to Test series wins in South Africa and Sri Lanka, and that he was a man of "great integrity".

- 'Challenging period' -

"He has led the England men's team with great resilience and empathy through an incredibly challenging period for English cricket, and he deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude," insisted Harrison.

Former England left-arm spinner Giles received fresh criticism during the Ashes for giving Silverwood sole authority to pick the side after being behind the sacking of national selector Ed Smith.

Silverwood, having been involved in a controversial rest and rotation policy during series losses away to India and at home to New Zealand in 2021, found himself under fire again following several bizarre selection decisions in Australia.

For all the strain of a gruelling schedule and 'bubble' cricket, it was hard to explain, for example, why England dropped James Anderson and