Rob Key states reason behind England’s split coaching decision

The recently appointed Managing Director Rob Key, who took over the reins from Ashley Giles, has been making some exciting headlines. Thus far, in his brief stint, he hasn’t hesitated in making bold decisions. 

Key has had some healthy media interactions where he openly commented about Stokes wanting James Anderson and Stuart Broad back in the team. The new managing director stated that the Test captain is ‘adamant’ about having his premier fast bowlers around. 

“He (Stokes) was sort of prepared for an argument when we spoke about it. He was like ‘Right, Jimmy and Broady are coming back’. I just went, yeah no that’s fine. And then we sort of moved on,” Key said while talking to Naseer Hussain on Sky Sports. 

The former England batter didn’t explain the real reason behind Anderson and Broad’s axing, but he agreed with the thought of backing the newer players. 

“I don’t look at everything as just black or white, I always look at the reason,” Key said. 

“I always thought this as a pundit; if there’s a logic behind what they’re doing to some degree, then fine, I can understand why people are doing it. There’s part of me that can understand with Broad and Anderson away from home, getting on a bit as well when you wanted to try and find out about other people.”

Key further opinioned on the selection of the head coach of the men’s cricket team. He gave the first clear outline of his vision for England’s white-ball sides while underlining that he is not looking for a ‘facilitator’ white-ball head coach during the ongoing interview process.

“Whoever comes in on that can’t just be a facilitator coach who is just going to think: ‘There you are, Eoin, all yours. I’ll throw a few balls and do all that type of stuff.’ They’ve got to have one eye on the fact that this team’s got to keep getting better,” Key said.

“There are lots of different reasons, but probably one of the main reasons is because England’s schedule going forward is very busy. It’s not too bad if you’re the Test match coach because you will get a bit of time to prepare, plan, and have a bit of time off.

He added, “If you’re a Test match cricketer, it’s not that jam-packed, but if you’re one of the multi-format players or a coach doing it all, it is literally jump on a plane go somewhere, and then a week later you’re starting a different format.” 

Rob Key also mentioned that he wouldn’t mind if an IPL Coach becomes the Head Coach of England. “I don’t see why Jos Buttler can play the whole IPL, but a coach couldn’t," the ECB chief remarked.

Various media reports are buzzing around in British media, citing names of different celebrated coaches from across the globe - starting from Gary Kirsten to Otis Gibson to Simon Katich. The latest on the list is New Zealand’s legendary batter - Brendon McCullum. 

Interestingly, all the names mentioned above are in some way or the other related to the Indian Premier League.