Chris Silverwood stepped down as England cricket coach on Thursday, becoming the second significant departure amid the fallout from the team’s humiliating Ashes series loss in Australia.
Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, left his role on Wednesday in the wake of the men’s team losing 4-0 to Australia.
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“The last two years have been very demanding but I have really enjoyed my time with the team,” Silverwood said. “I leave with fond memories and I am now looking forward to spending some quality time at home with my family and embracing the next chapter.”
An interim coach will be appointed ahead of next month’s three tests in the West Indies.
“During his time in the role Chris has given absolutely everything to make a success of it,” England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive officer Tom Harrison said. “He is a man of great integrity, who players and staff alike have enjoyed working with.
“Under Chris, England Men’s white ball teams have been ranked first and second in the world while he also led the Test team to a number of series wins including away in South Africa and Sri Lanka. He has led the England Men’s team with great resilience and empathy through an incredibly challenging period for English cricket, and he deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude.”
Silverwood’s tenure was clouded by the team’s poor performances and bewildering selection decisions, the team’s drinking culture was also put under the spotlight.
His time in the role began brightly despite a first up loss to New Zealand, with Silverwood leading England to four series wins in a row against South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
England then won the first Test in India in February 2021, beating Virat Kohli’s side by 227 runs in Chennai, but then stumbled to three straight defeats and a 4-1 series loss amid rest and rotation and constant batting failures.
The home summer saw them fall to a 1-0 series defeat to New Zealand and England were 2-1 down to India after four Tests before the fifth and final game was postponed due to Covid-19.
The inconsistency continued in Australia, with England failing to pass 300 even once across 10 innings. Their time at the crease was inefficient to say the least, with England’s batting order failing to record 200 runs on six occasions, while they scored a series low of 68 in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.
Former England captain Andrew Strauss, chair of the ECB cricket committee, has taken over from Giles on an interim basis and will make plans for the three-Test tour of West Indies in March.
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