Paul Collingwood set to lead England on the tour to the West Indies

Paul Collingwood is expected to be appointed interim England head coach for next month’s Test series against West Indies.

As the Ashes fall-out took in a fourth casualty in as many days — this time on the other side of cricket’s most entrenched rivalry as Justin Langer quit as Australia head coach — Sir Andrew Strauss accelerated plans for both short and long-term changes to England’s management structure.

Collingwood’s upgrade from assistant coach would avoid a complete overhaul of the current coaching staff and allow interim managing director Strauss breathing space to focus on identifying personnel and refining the set-up for the home international season, starting in June.

Langer will be of interest when considering Chris Silverwood’s successor.

Collingwood did not return to the UK after overseeing an England shadow side’s 3-2 Twenty20 defeat to the Windies, remaining in Barbados to have a holiday with his three daughters.

The 45-year-old left Australia at the start of the Adelaide Test in mid-December, 11 weeks after heading to Dubai to form the first of several England winter bubbles with the Twenty20 World Cup squad.

His credentials as the first man to lead England to a global trophy in 2010 and someone whose cricket brain continues to shape limited-overs international thinking, mean that he will be a strong candidate to become white-ball coach after Strauss hinted it is time to split coaching responsibilities again.

Should he mastermind only a second series win in the Caribbean for 54 years next month, he may even have designs on the Test job.

Richard Dawson, who led England Under 19s to this weekend’s World Cup final, is also set to be involved in preparing the team for those three matches.

Langer effectively