England Cricket is set to appoint former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten as the new coach of the Test team following the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The talks between Kirsten and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) new managing director Rob Key have reached the advanced stage and the announcement is likely to take place in a couple of weeks as interviews for both red-ball and white-ball roles will begin on May 9.
Kirsten is willing to end his association with the Gujarat Titans after IPL 2022 to take up the top job in English cricket. Kirsten, who has previously led India to a World Cup trophy in 2011 and later his own country South Africa to the No. 1 spot in Test rankings as a head coach, took up the role of the batting coach and mentor of the new IPL franchise.
Apart from Kirsten, the likes of Simon Katich and Ottis Gibson too are in the fray for roles in either red-ball or white-ball cricket.
He has also given formal consent to the appointment of star all-rounder Ben Stokes as Joe Root’s successor in England’s Test captaincy role. Stokes, who has been Root’s deputy in the longest format of the game for the last few years will take up the role full-time as the official announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of days.
