KARACHI: Current Pakistan men’s cricket team head coach Mike Hesson has been named as the new England Test coach to replace New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, a leading British newspaper reported on Tuesday.
McCullum, who took up the role in May 2022, was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Sunday after the 2-1 home series defeat against New Zealand in which captain Ben Stokes called time on his international career.
As a result, the ECB is on the hunt for both a new captain and head coach, with the next job a month away, a three-match home series against Pakistan, scheduled for August 19 to September 13.
Current white-ball captain Harry Brooke, who served as Stokes’ deputy in the long form, is being considered for the Test captaincy, with the ECB said to have shortlisted several candidates for the coaching post, a process overseen by its director of cricket Rob Key and national selector Marcus North.
“In fact, the level is probably not more than 6 to 10 names globally diversified,” ECB CEO Richard Gould said.
Meanwhile, according to a separate report by a leading British newspaper, the cricket board has narrowed down the list of candidates to nine, which includes the likes of Justin Langer, Andy Flower, Richard Dawson, Jonathan Trott, Kumar Sangakkara, Stephen Fleming, Tom Moody, Adi Prell and Hesson.
While Flower and Langer are seen as the frontrunners, Hesson is the most interesting name in the list as the New Zealander has been associated with the Pakistan men’s cricket team since May last year as their white-ball head coach.