Former Australia paceman Jason Gillespie has ruled himself out of the running for the England coaching job, insisting he is fully committed to leading English county side Yorkshire in their Championship title defence.
Gillespie, who captured 259 wickets in his 71 Tests for Australia, has been floated as an option to take over from Peter Moores as England mentor, following their disastrous World Cup campaign which ended with Monday’s shock defeat to Bangladesh – before the quarter-final stages.
The 39-year-old has previously attracted some admiring glances from the international scene after guiding Yorkshire to their first championship in 13 years last season – and was briefly linked with the Australia post when Darren Lehman was appointed.
But he says he only has eyes for success with Yorkshire currently.
“It’s nice to be thought of in that way, but I’ll tell you right now: I’m committed to Yorkshire and looking forward to the county season,” he said.
“I’m very comfortable at Yorkshire, we’ve got a great program here.
“The county season is about to kick off, we leave for Abu Dhabi on Thursday so it’s very exciting.
“My focus is 100 per cent here.”
Moores, meanwhile, has been given the backing of England and Wales Cricket Board chief Paul Downton who insists he remains the right man for the job.
“I have every faith in Peter Moores,” Downton told Sky Sports.
“Part of the reason for appointing Peter Moores was he is a very experienced coach.
“Whoever took this job was going to have a really difficult job.
“We had a side that broke up in Australia, we had to introduce new players and part of dealing with it – which was obviously going to be pressurised – was that experience.
“We’re very early into an appointment. Much as we’d like to change things instantly, it takes time.
“Look at New Zealand and where they were with their one-day cricket two years ago – it takes time to bring things through.
“We had a very successful team between 2009 and 2013, we have to rebuild again.
“There are no shortcuts. We have to back our players, invest in them and in time we will be back there again.”
