Australian North set to be England selector
admin_news
England are set to appoint former Australia international Marcus North as their new national selector.
As first reported in the Telegraph, the 46-year-old has been chosen after final interviews this week.
The move is not finalised, but North would become the first foreigner in charge of selecting the England men's team.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has not commented.
North, who played 21 Tests for Australia, has a long association with the English domestic game.
Since 2018 he has been director of cricket at Durham, one of the six counties for whom he played first-class cricket. At Durham, North has worked alongside England Test captain Ben Stokes.
North is poised to replace Luke Wright in the most significant change in England's backroom staff since the 4-1 Ashes defeat.
The departure of Wright, who served as selector for more than three years, was a personal decision and not linked to the loss in Australia.
North will join head coach Brendon McCullum, director of cricket Rob Key and the Test and limited overs captains – Stokes and Harry Brook – in selecting England squads, with some input on the final XI for matches. Performance director Ed Barney and head of player identification David Court are also involved in selection.
North's brief will include involvement in selection for England Lions, liaising with counties and leading a team of scouts.
Under McCullum, England have often ignored proven performers from county cricket in favour of the players they believe to have the attributes for international cricket. It will perhaps be North's role to provide balance to England's methods.
He may only have a limited involvement in the process of choosing a squad for the first Test against New Zealand, beginning at Lord's on 4 June.
The squad is set to be named in the week beginning 18 May, with an England training camp in Loughborough commencing on 25 May.
In the aftermath of the heavy loss in Australia, Stokes' team are likely to be looking for a new opener to replace Zak Crawley.
Durham's Emilio Gay and Somerset's James Rew would be the leading contenders, and could both be named in the squad for the first Test.
The identity of England's frontline spinner and seamers to join the fast-bowling department would also be up for discussion.
Around 80 candidates submitted applications for the selector job in April. These were then whittled down by initial conversations, leading to the final interviews.
In inviting applications, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said it was looking for "significant professional experience and intimate knowledge of international and first-class cricket, including knowledge of emerging players and county network".
The ECB added that applicants should have "demonstrable experience of informing talent identification", "a strong understanding of data and analytics within cricket" and "the ability to manage relationships with cricketers at international and county levels".
Analysis - Australian North has a deep connection with English game
It may seem left-field for England to put an Australian in charge of selection, but Marcus North has a deep connection with the domestic game in this country through his playing and administration careers.
England have been criticised for the time it has taken to make this appointment – Luke Wright's departure was announced in January, almost four months ago.
Each county has already played four matches at the start of the season, which the new selector could have been across in the build-up to the series against New Zealand.
But North can hit the ground running, drawing on his own experience of playing Test cricket and his knowledge of county cricket.
He will know the options England have at their disposal when it comes to finding an opener, a spinner and some seamers, and what it takes to succeed at the highest level.
In promoting from county cricket, the appointment of North might help build some more bridges in the strained relationship between the counties and the England hierarchy.
Given England's recent struggles down under and with a home Ashes series little more than a year away, having an Australian in the backroom can be no bad thing, either.
In the early days of the Brendon McCullum era, plenty of England's punts hit the ground running. Ben Duckett returned to Test cricket with instant success, and the likes of Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith all started well.
Latterly, England's selections have gone awry. Experiments involving Dan Lawrence opening the batting, or picking Josh Hull after a handful of first-class matches, have resulted in neither man being seen since.
In Australia, neither Zak Crawley nor Ollie Pope repaid the long-term faith shown in them. Bashir did not play and there was no reserve keeper to take the struggling Smith out of the firing line.
It might be North's job to add a touch of a pragmatism to England's hunches. The gaps in England's team are obvious. Now North has to help McCullum, Rob Key and co to identify the players with the best chance of succeeding at the highest level.
