Chris Silverwood on Thursday night became the second senior figure to pay the price for England’s Ashes humiliation when he was sacked as coach and selection supremo.
Silverwood followed managing director Ashley Giles out of the ECB door as the cull instigated by former England captain Andrew Strauss after perhaps the worst Ashes debacle of them all gained momentum.
‘The last two years have been very demanding but I have really enjoyed my time with the team and I am very proud of the group considering the challenges we faced,’ said Silverwood in an ECB statement.
‘I leave with fond memories and I am looking forward to spending some time with my family before embracing the next challenge.’
Now Strauss, interim managing director in place of Giles, will appoint a caretaker coach for the three-Test tour of the Caribbean that starts in just three weeks.
Then he will work on a new structure with the permanent position split into red and white ball coaches.
Silverwood has paid the price for a poor 2021 of red-ball cricket where England lost nine of the 15 Tests, which included series losses away to India and at home to New Zealand.
The 46-year-old first joined the set-up at the beginning of 2018 as bowling coach before he was promoted to become Trevor Bayliss’ replacement at the end of the drawn 2019 Ashes.
A big part of Silverwood’s remit was to improve performances in Tests after his predecessor had overseen a reset of white-ball cricket which culminated in Eoin Morgan’s side being able to lift the 50-over World Cup three years ago.
While the unexpected challenge of the coronavirus pandemic brought plenty of problems early into his tenure, the reign of the former Yorkshire bowler will be remembered for batting collapses and a regular issue of failing to deliver big first-innings runs.
England’s unrelenting schedule has contributed towards their decline in Test cricket with a contentious rotation policy adopted over the last 12 months but the ECB has decided to stick with captain Joe Root, who will lead the side on a tour to the West Indies in March alongside an interim head coach.
