Rob Key hopes to have England coach in place for first Test of the summer

Rob Key is optimistic about England’s chances of attracting a high-class field of coaching candidates and hopes to have a Test specialist in place for the first game of the summer.

Key has hit the ground running in his new role as managing director of men’s cricket, appointing Ben Stokes as red-ball captain and advertising for two head coaches to lead the five-day and limited-overs sides.

He has also signalled his intention to bring back the role of an independent national selector, a post abolished by his predecessor Ashley Giles.

With coaching interviews planned to begin on May 9 and the international summer beginning with a Lord’s Test against New Zealand on June 2, there is precious little wriggle room in the timeline.

The likes of Gary Kirsten, Simon Katich, Graham Ford, Stephen Fleming and Mahela Jayawardene have all been linked and Key has already begun a fact-finding mission that he hopes will help him land the right person.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone yet, nobody is out of the running so far,” he said.

“Every morning I wake up and read about who I’ve spoken to and all the names you read about would be very good if they got the chance to do it. I’ve got to work out who the best is.

“I’m optimistic – although it’s not a sure thing – that we’ll have a coach in place for that first Test. I’m optimistic there’s some good names coming in from English cricket and from world cricket. I’m trying to find out about a lot of people.

“A lot of that comes not from sitting across a room asking them ‘what sort of coach are you?’ It’s actually asking people that have worked with them.

“We just want to get the best people in those jobs and then we’ll build the structure around them. I might not know lots about structures but I