There's no funkiness to Test match batting, says former Proteas coach Gary Kirsten

Cape Town - South African cricket may be facing a crisis of its own, but one of the Proteas greatest sons Gary Kirsten could soon be the man rescuing England from theirs.

The English Cricket Board are on the lookout for a new coach and overhaul of their entire system after a suffering a 4-0 Ashes humiliation in Australia last season. Chris Silverhood, who was previously chosen ahead of Kirsten for the England head coach role, has been jettisoned and the former Proteas opener and coach is once again being viewed as a leading candidate within the Lord's corridors.

What makes Kirsten particularly alluring to the ECB is the 54-year-old's deep appreciation and dedication to Test cricket as England's rise in white-ball cricket that culminated with winning the 2019 World Cup on home soil unfortunately coincided with the collapse of the English County Championship first-class structure and ultimately the national red-ball team.

“It just feels like it’s Groundhog Day there,” Kirsten said in an exclusive interview with Wisden.com. “It’s average, mediocre cricket. I think there needs to be more intensity to the first-class format. You can’t have so many games. You lower the intensity, you lower the standard. Make every innings a priority. Don’t make it so you’ve got 28 innings in your season, make it tight, make it 16. So every innings is a big one.

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“You need players thinking. ‘Jeez, I don’t have a whole lot of games here, I’ve got to make this a big one’. And the other thing of course is that bowlers operate at 70% because they know they can get performances on wickets bowling at 70%, so it’s not good for them either.

"Look,”