Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan has indicated he would be interested in taking on the newly created post of director of England cricket, provided he could have a significant influence.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the new position on Wednesday as Paul Downton lost his job as managing director of cricket, with his post also scrapped.
Vaughan, who led England to their 2005 Ashes home triumph, was immediately linked with the new role, with the recently installed ECB chief executive Tom Harrison eager to have Downton’s successor concentrate solely on cricket performance rather than administration.
This has led to the names of several former England captains being touted for the job, with Vaughan, Andrew Strauss, Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, all being mentioned.
But were Vaughan to take up the job, he would have to put on hold his successful career as a media pundit and, in his column for Thursday’s Daily Telegraph, he said he would need to know more about the ECB’s intentions.
“It will take honesty and unity to make a change. In (incoming ECB chairman) Colin Graves and Tom Harrison, we have a chance to change English cricket and admit our problems,” Vaughan wrote.
“Let us finally do it. Stop looking at what your own county needs and ask what is best for English cricket moving forward and what is right for the England team to sustain a proper period of success.
“For the first time since retiring six years ago, I am open to a conversation with the ECB. I am passionate about English cricket. I love the game and I always want England to move forward and be successful.
“I have a vision for the game and I think I will be one of many ex-players who will be more than willing to talk to the ECB to see what exactly the role is and how much influence it will wield over the future structure of our game.
“The brief has to be wider and more powerful than Paul’s to have any real impact on England.”
In former England wicketkeeper Downton’s 15 months at the ECB, he played a key role in the highly controversial decision to axe star batsman Kevin Pietersen from the national set-up after England’s 2013/14 Ashes whitewash in Australia.
Downton’s watch also coincided with England’s woeful performance in the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where the team exited before the knockout phase.
This led to renewed criticism of England coach Peter Moores, controversially brought back for a second stint in charge of the national side with Downton hailing him as the “coach of his generation”.
Now the spotlight is on Moores and national selector James Whitaker ahead of England’s Test series in the West Indies, which starts next week in Antigua.
