Matthew Mott has overseen a dominant era for Australia Women, who won the 50-over World Cup earlier this year after dominating England in the Ashes; Mott will split England's head coaching responsibilities with Brendon McCullum, who was appointed to the red-ball role last week
Wednesday 18 May 2022 13:31, UK
Matthew Mott has been appointed as England men's white-ball head coach on a four-year contract.
Mott has left his position as head coach of Australia's dominant women's side to take up the role, having edged out Paul Collingwood after impressing the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) panel during the interview process.
The 48-year-old's appointment comes after Brendon McCullum was installed as England Test coach last week, with England's new managing director Rob Key opting to split the roles for the first time since 2014 following Chris Silverwood's sacking in February.
He is expected to be in place for England's three-match ODI series against the Netherlands in Amsterdam next month, after being unanimously selected as the standout candidate by the ECB's selection panel.
The panel included new Managing Director Rob Key, Strategic Adviser Andrew Strauss, Performance Director Mo Bobat and Tom Harrison, who stood down as CEO on Tuesday.
Key said: "It is a real privilege to be able to announce Mathew Mott as the head coach of our men's white-ball team. He has had an incredible coaching journey with so many varied experiences that have brought him to this point where he was outstanding in the interview process and the perfect fit for our white-ball teams.
"We are lucky to be able to appoint a head coach that has not only been involved in international cricket for the last few years but he has also worked in franchise cricket around the world. More importantly, what he has done with the Australian Women's team is what will be asked of him to achieve for our men's white-ball sides.
"I'm confident that in Eoin Morgan and Matthew Mott, we have a formidable partnership that can push for more trophies in the coming years and that Matthew will be able to oversee any transition that team will go through in the future.
"Furthermore, Matthew will also help us invest in English coaches getting them as much experience as possible over the next few years."
Mott added: "I am delighted to accept the opportunity to take this white-ball role with England. Whilst I am Australian, I have deep connections, and several of my closest friends are in the UK, having spent considerable time in Scotland, Wales and England, both as a player and coach.
"When this role became available, I was attracted by the chance to work with such an established and successful team under the astute leadership of Eoin Morgan and now Rob Key, whom I have always admired as an excellent cricket mind.
"The idea of the split roles and the chance to work alongside Brendon McCullum in his red-ball role is an opportunity that I am incredibly enthusiastic about and certainly provides the right balance for my family as we embark on this exciting journey.
"It was always going to take something special to leave the role that I have loved for the past seven years with the Australian Women's team. However, I genuinely believe that the time is right to play a role in helping the England Men's ODI and T20 group continue to evolve as one of the best teams in the world.
"I am fully aware that this team has been functioning well and part of my initial plan is to work with the playing group and support staff on how we can firstly maintain, then enhance, the success they have started to build over the past few years.
"Since the excitement of accepting this role, I, like many people around the world, have been trying to come to terms with the tragic loss of my great mate Andrew Symonds. The support of his beautiful family and close friends in the coming days will be vitally important, so I respectfully request some time to process his passing and the immense loss before making any further comment on the role at this stage."
Mott has overseen a period of incredible success for Australia's women's side, with their latest achievement a home triumph at the 50-over World Cup last month, which followed a dominant victory over England in the multi-format Ashes series at the start of the year.
In July 2021, Mott extended his contract with Cricket Australia until after the 2023 women's Ashes in the UK, but the opportunity to work alongside England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has persuaded him to leave the role he took up in 2015.
In addition to this year's 50-over World Cup triumph, Mott's tenure ends with two T20 World Cup victories, four successful Ashes campaigns and a record 26-match winning streak in ODIs, that stretched from 2018 to 2021.
Before taking up his post with Australia women in 2015, Mott worked as Head Coach of New South Wales - leading them to victory in the Champions League T20 tournament in 2009 - and then coached Glamorgan, reaching the final of the Yorkshire Bank 40 in 2013, before working as a consultant for Ireland during the 2015 ICC Men's World Cup.
England have opted to return to having split coaches for just the second time, after the period between 2012 and 2014 when Andy Flower was at the helm for Test cricket and Ashley Giles led the team in white-ball cricket.
The first challenge for Mott's side will be a three-match ODI series in the Netherlands from June 17, while the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia looms later in the year, starting on October 16.
In contrast to England's Test team, who have managed just one win in their last 17 matches, Mott takes over one-day and T20 sides led by Morgan that are both second in the world rankings.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain...
"Excellent choice, really good choice. He's an exceptional coach, he's been around a long time as a coach.
"2004/05 New South Wales, he had a lot of success there, Glamorgan, so he knows English and Welsh cricket inside out, he's played here, coached here.
"I met him in the middle at the Women's World Cup where they (Australia) had won 42 games in a row, they won four Ashes under Matthew Mott, two T20 World Cups, a 50-over World Cup, and he took a good side and made them into a great side, arguably the greatest women's cricket team there's ever been.
"There are signs there with the England side, Rob Key said last week he wanted somebody to come in and put the cones down for Eoin Morgan, he wanted somebody to come in and push England's white-ball team even further and I think that's exactly what Matthew Mott will do.
"I think it's a really good appointment."
Former England opener Nick Compton praised the selection of Mott.
"It's a good appointment by Rob Key, he's gone for someone who has playing credibility but also has coaching credibility.
"Matthew Mott has a very successful track record, has coached in England so understands County cricket and knows some of the English players and he's had his recent success with the Australian women's team.
"He's coached Glamorgan, coached with New South Wales as well, so he has got coaching credibility and I think that's very important that you get someone in who has that track record.
"If you looked at Brendon McCullum on the other hand, he hasn't got the coaching track record but played 100 Test matches and has a significant track record as a player.
"Matthew Mott is a very sound appointment, he'll work well with a guy like Eoin Morgan, who is very senior in that position. I think it's a good appointment."
Managing director Key highlighted that Mott's achievements with the Australian women's team - and his varied coaching journey - made him an 'outstanding' candidate for the job.
"As we said in nearly every press release when anyone gets a job anywhere, they were the outstanding candidate, but that really was the case in this instance.
"The coaching journey that he's been on, the varied coaching journey he's been on and the fact that he's been in this game for a long time now [highlight that].
"His mentality and his philosophy is completely aligned with what we want to do and importantly what that England white-ball side has done, and done since the 2015 World Cup.
"The decision-making process was about [selecting] someone who wasn't going to come in and disrupt that environment. They obviously have a very strong leader in Eoin Morgan but [bringing in someone who] can also subtly enhance it along the way. Then, when there is a transition in leadership whenever that might be, they're the right person to take it into the next era.
"What he's done in the women's game with that Australian side shouldn't be underestimated. How he's gone about it, it's been a serious achievement.
"He's made the gap greater between the rest of the pack in the women's game. There's a lot to be said for that."
Collingwood, who was edged out by Mott for this role, is someone Key still believes can add value within England's set-up. He made it clear there's definitely still a role for him, if Collingwood wants to remain.
"Paul Collingwood is in the system. He's an asset in our environment, whether that's red or white ball," England men's managing director noted.
"As I've said before, I'm not the head coach of these teams, these guys [Keys and McCullum] are going to come in and start looking at who adds value the most and in what parts, because they're their set-ups now.
"What I would say, as I've said to all of our specialist coaches, is that we need more coaches not fewer. We cannot have it where we're saying that we've split the coaching roles, because it's not possible for a head coach to be able to do everything, then have all the support staff doing everything.
"Paul Collingwood is an asset in our environment, where he's going to be for the whole summer, I don't think we know until the coaches come in.
"What he will be doing is he will be with the Test side at the start, so for the first couple of Tests he'll be with the Test boys."
Watch Matthew Mott's England side face India and South Africa in limited-overs cricket this summer live on Sky Sports - with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup also live on Sky Sports from October.
