Andrew Strauss Shows He Is the ECB's New Broom with Peter Moores Axing

Rumours were swirling around English cricket about the appointment of Andrew Strauss as director of cricket and the removal of Peter Moores as England head coach on Friday.

The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Guardian all reported that Strauss was set for the new role as a successor to Paul Downton, who was sacked as managing director of the England cricket team in April.

With Strauss’ official elevation to the role on Saturday, he was given the remit to decide on the hiring and firing of coaches as England look to rebuild for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Moores’ sacking shows that Strauss understands the circumstances he is inheriting and that he is determined to bring sweeping changes into the team.

Moores had been under immense pressure since England’s disastrous showing at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year, in which they bowed out at the group stage.

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That pressure intensified following their recent 1-1 tie in the Test series with the West Indies, a team that England were expected to beat comfortably.

When he was a player, Strauss did not appear to rate Moores too highly as a coach, which could have played a role in this decision.

In his autobiography, Driving Ambition, Strauss said of Moores, per the Daily Telegraph:

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What is required at the highest level is a coach who is able to calm players down, allowing them to play to their strengths. ... Moores’s philosophy that ‘energy cannot be saved, it can only be created’ ran contrary to that.

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From those few sentences, it is clear that Moores is not held in high regard by the man who was ever so briefly his new boss.

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The situation does not alter the uncertainty surrounding Test captain Alastair Cook and one-day international captain Eoin Morgan, but resolving those issues will surely be next on Strauss’ list.

However, changing the coach was the priority for the new director of cricket, with a number of possible successors already in the frame.

One favourite is Australian Jason Gillespie, who has had a great deal of success at Yorkshire, building a side that now supplies a number of players to England’s international teams.

Another name that has been bandied about is Gillespie’s former Baggy Green team-mate Justin Langer, a strong candidate—but one who would need to move from his home in Perth.

That these names are being discussed shows there is a real desire for change and to see the team get back to winning ways at the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Both Gillespie and Langer are relative outsiders, even though they are well known and respected in English cricket for their efforts as players and coaches.

While there may not be an inquiry into England’s recent Test series draw in the West Indies, change is certainly in the air.

The onus is on Strauss to make sure that the new coach can cope with the pressure of leading England, especially with New Zealand and Australia to come.

However, he has already shown a little of the ruthless side that made him such an effective captain for England. He may need to show even more to be successful in his new role.