Reports: Paul Collingwood frontrunner for England's limited-overs coaching role

After the axing of Chris Silverwood and the stepping down of Joe Root as Test captain due to underwhelming performances, England have decided to make some urgent changes in their setup in order to take their cricket to the next level. They have appointed star all-rounder Ben Stokes as the Test captain and have zeroed in on former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum for the position of the red-ball coach.

At the same time, England Cricket was also searching for a separate coach for their white-ball setup and their search has now finally ended as they have thought about an experienced candidate who also has spent a valuable amount of time with the team. The person in the discussion is former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood.

Paul Collingwood in line to become England’s limited-overs coach

The new England men’s cricket managing director, Rob Key, is due to “make his decision on the position” soon, according to dailymail.co.uk.

With it being made known that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to split the red- and white-ball coaching roles, the report added that, “An appetite to appoint a home-grown candidate combined with a lofty global standing in limited-overs cricket should result in England plumping for Paul Collingwood as their new white-ball coach ahead of an Australian.”

Collingwood was associated with the English team as the interim coach when they had toured the West Indies for a bilateral series featuring five T20Is and three Test matches. The former batter was given the role after Chris Silverwood stepped down from this position in the wake of the Three Lions’ 0-4 Ashes debacle down under in December-January.

The Caribbean tour turned out to be an equally forgettable one for England as they lost the T20Is 2-3 before and then went on to concede the Test series 0-1 with the first two games having ended in a stalemate.