There are many reasons that few Englishmen go on to coach England these days: the results of those that have gone before hang heavy, a mistrust of the country’s embedded coaching system has developed and so has an infatuation with star names.
This century only Peter Moores (twice) and Chris Silverwood have been given the privilege of calling themselves Test coach and between them they lost more matches than they won – the numbers being 24 and 23 respectively.
That might appear to be a tough yardstick to be judged by, but such statistics will have influenced Rob Key in his decision to appoint New Zealander Stephen Fleming despite a lack of first-class coaching experience, ahead of Richard Dawson, perhaps the brightest coaching talent in the country and one with silverware on his CV.
Some will argue, perhaps with justification that Dawson’s achievements with two unfashionable counties have not been given commensurate weighting in this selection process. Gloucestershire supporters look back on their Lord’s one-day cup final win in 2015 as one of the club’s finest achievements while he has Glamorgan as high as fourth in the County Championship after his first season in charge concluded with promotion last September.
In between those two jobs, there was the small matter of overseeing an eight-match England Lions tour of Australia in early 2020, returning home undefeated having won the four-day ‘Test’ against Australia A.
On Friday, Key spoke of ‘working on’ homegrown coaches to ‘upskill’ them, saying more experiences needed to be created for them overseas. That such development would not be a quick fix. Yet Dawson’s very positive experience of winning in Australia was six years ago. He has knowledge of lots of conditions around the world garnered from various England tours.
With the appointment of Stephen Fleming, there is the suggestion that England have overlooked attracting one of their own – such as Richard Dawson
Fleming (left, with ex-team-mate and former England coach Brendon McCullum in 2008) is a much starrier name
It feels like a case of disregard for the coaching path from which Dawson – whose standoffish demeanour should not detract from the fact he is an excellent coach well respected by the country’s leading players – has emerged.
Key has shown little regard for the traditional level four coaching qualification that the ECB has asked the country’s best coaches to complete for the past quarter of a century, instead appointing those with limited or no coaching backgrounds in the form of former playing greats Brendon McCullum and Andrew Flintoff to high position.
Investment has been in inspiration not perspiration. Overall, McCullum has proved to be a success across four years and three England teams, but said early on: ‘Don’t expect me to be on the tools.’ But Flintoff has proved more of a mentor than coach since taking over the Lions two years ago, and will skip some of next winter’s programme in South Africa to coach Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.
It is part of a wider culture of ‘image’ taking precedent over results. When the Hundred launched in 2021, not a single coach was English. The late Shane Warne was chosen by London Spirit; experienced international coaches like Andy Flower, Darren Lehmann and Gary Kirsten were signed; the two emerging coaches were New Zealander Daniel Vettori and Australian Simon Katich.
Key is part of a shifting cricket culture that places names over deeds and achievements abroad over ones here.
The last six County Championship titles have been claimed by teams with English coaches: Moores (Nottinghamshire), Gareth Batty (Surrey), Mark Robinson (Warwickshire) and Anthony McGrath (Yorkshire).
If we do not have confidence in our own production line, why should we expect others to? Work abroad has been limited: Silverwood and Paul Farbrace (both Sri Lanka), Bob Woolmer (Pakistan) and Jonathan Trott (Afghanistan) rare examples of those to have taken head coach jobs of Test-playing nations this century.
Vikram Solanki is the only Englishman to move from a county position to one at the Indian Premier League, as director of cricket at Gujarat Titans. Moores was the only English coach at the Big Bash League last winter.
However, there is evidence of a shift. Ian Bell has been on coaching staffs at both tournaments. Others have ventured to the BBL to gain experience through observational or backroom roles. Andrew Gale, formerly of Yorkshire, is making big waves as a coach with Tasmania and was promoted to work with Australia A last winter.
Peter Moores is one of few English coaches able to have the privilege of calling themselves England Test coach this century
But like his compatriot Chris Silverwood, Moores lost more Test matches than he won
Foreigners appear to be judged through a different prism. For all of Fleming’s widely acknowledged man-management skills, tactical acumen and calm, calculated persona, he has never won a trophy without MS Dhoni as his captain.
Marcus Trescothick, meanwhile, failed to make the shortlist this time despite four years of experience under McCullum in which his one major failing was insisting there had been no talk of the dangers of driving on the up after first Test defeat in Perth, in keeping with the regime’s off-the-cuff policy.
Trescothick did a sound job as McCullum’s stand-in on the limited-overs tour of the Caribbean two years ago, coming home with a rare series win over West Indies, and will step up again against Pakistan.
He has been produced by a country with a revered coaching system that has launched several individuals on the road to international head coach jobs around the world.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald completed his coaching badges by the age of 27, cutting his teeth here seven years later, starting at the bottom of the pile with a Leicestershire side that had gone winless for two seasons while continue to play back in his homeland.
In improving the midlands club’s finishing positions in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he established a reputation as one of the brightest young coaches on the global circuit, something he gave further credence to when in his first senior coaching position in Australia he marked his debut campaign of 2016-17 by taking Victoria to the Sheffield Shield title.
At Grace Road, McDonald could put into play his belief in a hands-off approach, making players take greater responsibility and use his own previous struggles with the mental side of the sport to liberate the thinking of a team previously suffocated by struggle.
The fierce loyalty he has developed towards players was arguably forged through witnessing a group of low achievers rise above their stations with the right backing.
The art of managing people, he says, is what he invested in most as a coach. A six-month season that barely pauses for breath allows the time to get to know the individuals concerned. It gave him a steep learning curve.
Ottis Gibson won the Twenty20 World Cup with West Indies, defeated both Australia and India in Test series while in charge of South Africa and was England’s bowling coach on two occasions, having gone through the ECB coaching programme in the first decade of this century.
Gibson was mentored by an Australian Troy Cooley, but both were very much part of the English system.
Another Australian Jason Gillespie was exposed to the pressure of ending Yorkshire’s trophy drought as a young coach fresh from a maiden stint in Zimbabwe, and responded by delivering back-to-back Championships in 2014-15. Like Gibson, he moved onto the international scene, albeit briefly, with Pakistan.
Others are grateful for what the county system offers. Perhaps it’s time for us to be so too.
