"It's been a huge privilege to support the team over the last five years. I'd like to wish all the staff and players the very best of luck for the future".
Friday 8 March 2019 21:12, UK
Mark Ramprakash has lost his job as England batting coach ahead of the Ashes, the ECB has confirmed.
The former England batsman - who played 52 Tests between 1991 and 2002 - was appointed in November 2014 but will not be involved in the series against Australia, which starts on August 1.
Ramprakash tweeted the news shortly before England's second Twenty20 international against Windies, with the ECB later releasing a statement.
"We will finalise the coaching set-up for the Ashes in the next couple of weeks. Mark Ramprakash will not be part of the coaching set-up for the Ashes," the statement read.
Graham Thorpe has recently been serving as England batting coach in white-ball cricket and could now step up to the role in Test cricket.
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace recently announced that he will leave his position after the Windies tour to take up the job of sporting director at Warwickshire.
Reflecting on Ramprakash's exit, Sky Cricket expert and former England captain Nasser Hussain said: "He has been left with a very vulnerable-looking batting line-up in the Tests and they have not been overly successful - they have been misfiring.
"He has to take some of the responsibility for that but mainly it's the batsmen who need to take responsibility. Coaches don't go out and bat for you, it's the players.
"We don't know why [the change has been made]. Ashley Giles has come in as director of cricket and may want someone else. Ramprakash probably feels a little bit hurt by it - it has come a little out of the blue.
"It might be a little concern that there have been two big changes [with Farbrace and Ramprakash leaving] - but an England fan will say maybe that's what we need in the batting department.
"There are some good guys around, like Thorpe, like Paul Collingwood and Andy Flower in the set-up who could take over - but a different batting coach doesn't make England's top three look any better overnight."
England's Ashes campaign begins at Edgbaston followed by further games at Lord's (Aug 14), Headingley (Aug 22), Old Trafford (Sep 4) and The Oval (Sep 12), with all matches live on Sky Sports Cricket.
