England are planning for Chris Silverwood to take over as head coach when Trevor Bayliss stands down next year.
Bayliss confirmed earlier this week he will leave the job when his four-year contract comes to an end in 18 months’ time.
The Australian had privately told Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, that would be the case months ago and the pair picked out Silverwood as a potential successor when he was appointed as the team’s bowling coach in October.
Silverwood beat off competition from a host of other contenders to take over the role left vacant by Ottis Gibson’s departure to South Africa.
And The Cricket Paper understands it was his potential to take over from Bayliss next year that ultimately got him the job.
The Yorkshireman started his new role this week, joining England’s one-day squad in Australia.
But Silverwood, who guided Essex to their first County Championship title in 25 years last summer, is being groomed to take over the top job and provide some continuity once Bayliss departs following a 2019 summer that includes a home World Cup and Ashes series.
Silverwood’s achievements at Essex, following up promotion in 2016 with the Championship in the county’s first year back in the top-flight, singled him out as the best up-and-coming domestic coach in the country.
He has also impressed while working with the wider England set-up at Loughborough and the Lions.
Bayliss will take him under his wing to continue that progression as a coach and is keen to hand over the reins next year.
Speaking after England’s defeat in Sydney earlier this week that sealed a 4-0 Ashes humbling, the Australian confirmed: “I have already told Strauss I will be finishing up after September 2019. I have never been anywhere any longer than four or five years.
“I think after four or five years it is time to move on whether you are doing well or not. I want to leave the job having helped England into a position of strength not just look after results for me.
“It has never been about me or the coach. It is about the team you are working for and making them as good as possible in the future.”
It is thought Paul Farbrace, Bayliss’ assistant, will also leave at the end of the 2019 summer so he can prove himself in a head coach role before potentially taking over the England job in the future.
*This article was originally published in The Cricket Paper’s 16 January 2018 edition.
