Key begins hunt for split England head coaches

England managing director of men's cricket Rob Key has begun his hunt for split red and white-ball head coaches.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has placed a job advertisement which confirms that two head coaches will be appointed, one for Test cricket and another for the limited-overs formats.

England previously had two separate head coaches between 2012 and 2014, with Andy Flower at the helm for red-ball cricket and Ashley Giles in charge of the white-ball sides.

Chris Silverwood departed as England head coach after the 4-0 Ashes thrashing this winter, with Paul Collingwood taking charge on an interim basis for the 1-0 Test series defeat in the West Indies in March.

The job advert says that the new head coaches will "play a central role in selecting the team for their respective format alongside a national selection panel."

The role of national selector was previously abolished in 2021 with Ed Smith leaving the ECB and then-coach Silverwood charged with heading up player selection.

The deadline for applications for the head coach roles is May 6 with first-stage interviews set to commence the following week.

Sky Sports News understands that Key, whose appointment as successor to Giles as England MD was confirmed on Easter Sunday, has not yet made any official approaches to coaches but that contenders are emerging.

Former India and South Africa head coach Gary Kirsten - who was interviewed by England in 2019 ahead of Silverwood's appointment - and ex-Surrey, Sri Lanka and Ireland coach Graham Ford - who Key worked under at Kent - have expressed their interest.

Kirsten said recently that he would be keen to coach England in Test cricket alone.

Former Australia batter Simon Katich is also in contention.

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