England cricket national selector James Whitaker to step down in overhaul
Channel: أخبار مصر اليوم
Date: 2018-03-12

England selector James Whitaker first casualty of humiliating Ashes series as ECB start selection shake-up
James Whitaker stands down and next ECB selector faces tough task
National selector James Whitaker has become the most high profile casualty of the 4-0 Ashes hammering after agreeing to ‘step down’ amid a selection shake up.

Instead of the old four man panel that also included county directors of cricket Angus Fraser, Mick Newell and head coach Trevor Bayliss, there will now be three, a National Selector and a further independent full time selector that he will appoint to pick players along with the coach.

Under its revamp, England will bring in a scouting system with a minimum of 12 "discipline-specific scouts".

They will provide information to a panel made up of a new national selector, a full-time independent England selector and the head coach.

"The new approach will allow us to see more players throughout the county game, more often, and simplify the selection process," England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said.

"We will have a greater body of information, deeper insight into the talent we can pick and a better understanding of who to help develop across the red-ball and white-ball games."
Historically the best candidates have seldom been available in England. That may still apply even though Strauss may be eager to boost the status and the salary of the post in 2018. For example, it would be surprising if he could entice any of England’s prominent past captains such as Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain or Michael Vaughan from their work in the media.