Nasser Hussain: "There are split captains and if you have split coaches, the argument is that it gives more energy to each team."
Tuesday 9 January 2018 19:39, UK
Trevor Bayliss has announced that he will not be renewing his contract as England head coach when it expires in September 2019 following another home Ashes series - so is it now time for the ECB to consider split Test and one-day coaches?
The ink is barely dry on England's 4-0 Ashes defeat and although Bayliss' departure date is still two years away, speculation is already underway as to how the team can win in Australia when they are return in 2021/2022.
A new coach will oversee that tour, but could we have split coaches - Test and limited overs - by the time England are back in Australia?
NASSER HUSSAIN, who wasn't surprised by Bayliss' announcement, thinks it's a possibility…
"None of us Bayliss would take it on after 2019 but I'm surprised he's announced it quite so early.
"Looking at Trevor, he didn't hang out for this job. It's not the be all and end all for him. He puts a lot into it - don't be confused by that sort of low-key body language of someone who doesn't care about English cricket.
"He's done extraordinary things with the one-day side alongside Eoin Morgan, they've not won a major tournament yet but the team is totally unrecognisable from where it was two years ago.
"There are split captains and if you have split coaches the argument is that it gives more energy to each of the teams."
"It is interesting that Michael Atherton has written that he thinks there should be split coaches and there's a bit of truth in it.
"There are split captains and if you have split coaches the argument is that it gives more energy to each of the teams.
"It also gives more time for the coaches to go away and have a look at players and what's potentially going right or wrong.
"It was interesting when Bayliss was asked about Mark Stoneman before his selection and he said he'd never seen Stoneman bat. That shows you the coaches don't get enough time to go and have a look at players.
"All the planning we've talked about, you can't plan because you are there trying to win Test matches, trying to win one-day matches and trying to win T20 matches."
England did try split coaches back in 2012 with Ashley Giles coming in as one-day and T20 coach to replace Andy Flower, who remained in charge of the Test side.
The experiment lasted for only two years with Flower the first of the coaches to depart before Giles followed suit and Hussain had a word of warning for England should they head down the route of split coaches again.
"It always felt that Giles was getting the worst end of it.
"Players were being rested for one-day games and not Tests with the focus on the longer format and Gilo, being an inexperienced international coach, just went with it.
"Now, with the importance of one-day cricket, Joe Root is a good example. The one-day coach will want him to play all the time and the Test match coach, whose job is also on the line, will want him to play all the time and you may get cricketers that are absolutely exhausted all the time.
"The two coaches fighting against each other is the only thing I can see that wouldn't make split coaches work. It would work well only if they can both work with each other."
Meanwhile, MARK BUTCHER thinks the decision about split coaches could come sooner rather than later because of the timing of Bayliss' announcement.
The former England opener thinks England could be looking for a new coach well before 2019, should results, starting in New Zealand, not go to plan.
"It's an interesting thing to do, announce that you won't continue beyond a date two years in the future because if England lose or get off to a bad start in the summer, you are kind of a dead man walking," said Butcher.
"The board might just look at it and say 'this guy's not going to be around for too long anyway so we'll get rid of him and bring in someone and start planning for the future with them'.
"It is strange timing but he's had an extraordinary career in coaching and he'll probably have franchise teams welcoming with open arms should it happen. It feels to me like he's a man who wouldn't mind the axe falling."
Is it time for England to have split Test and one-day coaches? Let us know yours on Twitter @Sky Cricket
