Ricky Ponting as England Test coach a target for new managing director Rob Key

As revealed by The Times last week, Key emerged as the leading candidate for the job after Marcus North, director of cricket at Durham, withdrew from contention.

Key, the former Kent captain, 41, will assume the role immediately and will relinquish his job as a pundit and commentator at Sky Sports. Sir Andrew Strauss held the position on an interim basis after Giles’s departure but did not want the permanent job because of his family situation. He was heavily involved, however, in making the appointment.

“It is an absolute honour to take up this role,” Key said. “The chance to have an impact and make a difference is an opportunity given to very few and I will give it everything I have to try and shape the next great era of English men’s cricket.

“Although at this moment, it has been a challenging time in English cricket, I also think it’s as exciting a time as I can remember. With two of our teams near or at the top of the world rankings and an undoubted amount of talent in the our game, I hope to try and bring everyone along for the ride so we can all help take English men’s cricket to new heights across all formats.”

Key will need to hit the ground running. The England team do not have a head coach or a captain after the sacking of Chris Silverwood in February and the resignation of Joe Root on Friday. Key is known to favour separate head coaches for the Test and limited-overs teams and will now begin the recruitment process by making contact with his preferred candidates to try to persuade them to apply for the position.

Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain, and Gary Kirsten, who works for the ECB as head coach of Welsh Fire in the Hundred, will be high on Key’s list of targets for Test coach, and Mahela Jayawardena, the former Sri Lanka captain, is likely to be approached to coach the white ball team.

Key is also understood to want to reinstate a selection panel with a head selector after Giles gave sole responsibility for selection to Silverwood last year – a decision that Key has publicly criticised.

James Taylor, the former Nottinghamshire and England batsman, is the ECB’s chief scout but is known to have a good relationship with Key and could be in the running to be appointed head selector. Most pressing though is deciding on Root’s successor. The first Test of the summer begins at Lord’s on June 2 and it is unlikely a permanent head coach will be in place by then so it will be for Key to make that big call. Ben Stokes is the most obvious candidate although Key will consider other options, including Stuart Broad, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler.

In his new role, Key will also be heavily involved in the imminent review of English cricket which is being led by Strauss and will be instrumental in bridging the gap between the England team and the counties and looking at how the domestic structure can best support the England team. He has previously said he would be in favour of splitting the County Championship into three divisions of six and reducing the number of matches played in a season.

Key played 21 times for England across all three formats and scored a Test double hundred against West Indies at Lord’s in 2004, which led to him being named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 2005. His professional career spanned three decades and he captained Kent in two stints between 2006 and 2015. After retiring in 2016, Key moved into the commentary box, working on both domestic and international cricket.

Tom Harrison, chief executive of the ECB, welcomed Key’s appointment. “Following a thorough recruitment process, Rob stood out in a very competitive field,” Harrison said. “His passion and knowledge of the game at domestic and international level is outstanding. He is a proven leader and combines an approachable nature with fresh, original thinking and resilience which will stand him in good stead.

“He will bring a lot to the role and I am sure players and staff alike will enjoy working with Rob. I have no doubt he will relish the challenge before us.”

– The Times

Originally published as Ricky Ponting as England Test coach a target for new managing director Rob Key