England Cricket Board (ECB) has sacked Brendon McCullum as the head coach of their Test side. After the series defeat to New Zealand, England must find a head coach ahead of the Test series against Pakistan at home. While too much drinking and drunken escapades controversy took centre stage during McCullum's tenure as head coach, ECB may look to clean their image. As a result, former India head coach, Rahul Dravid has emerged as one of the contenders for the role.
As per a report by Daily Telegraph, Dravid is among the list of contenders who are being looked at for the head coach role. Other potential candidates are former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter Andy Flower and former England spinner Richard Dawson.
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McCullum will not be part of the Test setup but he will continue to be the head coach in white-ball formats. The English newspaper further added that Dravid does not intend to take a full-time coaching job but taking over as England's head coach only in Test cricket will give him ample time to stay at hope.
Experience of the top contenders in coaching role
Dravid had helped India reach the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final. England are yet to reach a WTC final. Their chances of reaching the final in the ongoing edition are slim to none as they are placed seventh on the WTC points table.
Apart from Dravid, Flower is a prominent coaching option. He has helped several franchises win the trophy. Also, he had been England's head coach before, helping them win three consecutive Ashes title. During his tenure, England also became the no.1 Test side. His most recent achievement is helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) win two IPL titles on the trot.
Among the contenders, Dawson is low profile. He has proved his worth as head coach of Glamorgan. He was also England's assistant coach when they won the T20 World Cup 2022. He has coached Welsh Fire in The Hundred and the England Young Lions when they reached the final in 2022 edition.
Other contenders for head coach job
Other contenders who are being looked at for the head coach role are Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, England's Andrew Flintoff, New Zealand's Mike Hesson and Australia's Justin Langer. Sangakkara is currently Rajasthan Royals' (RR) head coach. Flintoff is in charge of the England Lions team. Hesson is the head coach of Pakistan team whereas Langer is Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Manchester Super Giants' (MSG) head coach.
When will England play Pakistan?
The three-Test series against Pakistan will begin on August 19 at Headingley, Leeds. However, England's next focus will be the Ashes at home against Australia.