Last week’s post-Ashes review felt more like a talking shop than a plan of action, and the search for a new men’s national selector underlined the problem. Speaking to board members, managing director Rob Key put it bluntly: “It’s not a job that lots of people are ringing me saying, ‘Can I have that job?’ Or the ones that I see touted around; yeah, we speak to those guys … they don’t say yes!”
Key has been looking since Luke Wright resigned in January. An official advert went live a few days ago and applications shut on 17 April, just as the third round of the Championship gets going. With seven rounds to squeeze in before England face New Zealand at Lord’s on 4 June, Key would like the successful candidate in the chair far sooner.
What is on offer? Around £150,000 a year, a seat on every one of the ECB’s six selection layers – from county scouting right through to picking the final XI – and a sizeable say in England’s playing future. It sounds attractive, yet Key admits the hard sell is persuading candidates to ditch well-paid, lower-stress media gigs.
“The selector role, you just try and find the best person and help them work as optimally as they can,” he said. “The first thing you look for is someone who’s going to influence our decision making as much as anything else. And you have a process and you try and work that out, or who ends up being the best person (to apply).”
Many of the names floated are the same ones heard and seen on television. That may look lazy, but those pundits hold the right mix of experience, sharp eyes and clear voices that Key wants in the room. The catch? Any ongoing media work would be an obvious conflict of interest. Lydia Greenway, for example, stopped commentating on England women once she became their selector last year.
Mark Butcher, a regular on Sky, told the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast he “would be interested” in the vacancy. Yet after informal chats with Key the 53-year-old has cooled on the idea, largely because giving up the commentary box makes the numbers less appealing. Steven Finn, fast carving a reputation with BBC Test Match Special and TNT, is still weighing things up. Nick Knight is another Sky voice; friends say he has not applied “as yet”.
Beyond the broadcast booth the field is thinner than you might think. County coaches rarely fancy leaving hands-on work and existing ECB staff are already stretched. Some former England players settled in private business have been sounded out, but the pay rise is not big enough for them either.
As things stand, Key may have to widen the net or tweak the role. One option floated privately is allowing limited media involvement outside England duty, though that risks the very conflicts the ECB is trying to avoid. Another is appointing a two-person panel, splitting domestic reconnaissance from final selection. Neither idea has unanimous support.
For now, the job ad sits on the ECB website, and Key’s phone stays quiet. The managing director can only hope someone presses ‘apply’ before he is forced to redraw the position entirely.
