London: Former England captain Andrew Strauss will reportedly play a key role in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) review of the debacle of the Joe Root-led team in the Ashes currently underway in Australia.
The 44-year-old Strauss, who attends the ECB’s board meetings in his role as Chair of the Cricket Committee but does not have voting rights, is expected to have a say in the decisions on team head coach Chris Silverwood and captain Root, according to mirror.co.uk on Wednesday.
England have lost all three Tests so far in the Ashes by huge margins and the series inside 12 days. The worst humiliation came in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, where the tourists lost by an innings and 14 runs.
The report said that team director Ashley Giles “is responsible for conducting a review into the defeat, which will examine the futures of Silverwood and Root, as well as the planning and preparation which went into the tour.”
Giles’s report will be submitted to the ECB in February and Strauss will play a “key role in advising the board’s executives on what they should do”.
The report said that Strauss will review the report and his “guidance” will be sought on whether the ECB decides to accept Giles’ recommendations over the future of Silverwood and Root and the structure of English cricket.
Ahead of the Sydney Test currently underway, Giles had said, “In 34 years, we’ve come here and won once. But being here now, I absolutely feel the responsibility of losing this Ashes series. We all do, and we can only apologise. I know there will be a lot of emotion, a lot of anger, about how we’ve lost it, but we know it’s not an easy place to come.
“Unless we look at more systemic change and a collective responsibility and solutions, we can make whatever changes we want. You can change me, change the head coach, change the captain. But we’re only setting up future leaders for failure. That’s all we’re doing. We’re only pushing it down the road.’
(IANS)
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