The head of English cricket hopes he’s not the next man out after England’s humiliating Ashes series loss in Australia.
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison said Friday he wants to keep his job and bring the organisation “back to a place where there is stability and calmness.”
“We do have to reflect hard on what happened (at the Ashes) but I am not saying I am clinging on for grim death, that is not what I am doing,” Harrison said. “I am doing this because I think it is the right thing for English cricket right now and as soon as that is not the case, you will not have to push me.”
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Ashley Giles left his role as England’s director of cricket on Wednesday in the wake of the men’s team losing 4-0 to Australia. Chris Silverwood stepped down as England coach the next day, and Graham Thorpe left as assistant coach on Friday.
Off the field, the ECB and Harrison have also been confronted with the sport’s racism scandal in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations about the player’s time at Yorkshire.
“I think what I would like to do is not to be seen running away from the challenges of addressing the issues,” Harrison said. “This is a moment where I think I have the support of the board and it is a very tough moment, honestly the toughest moments I have experienced in my career but I just feel I need to, until literally I feel it is the right moment, keep going.”
After England’s Ashes humiliation, Andrew Strauss has been brought back on a short-term basis to help appoint an interim head coach for next month’s tour of the West Indies. Strauss is charged with appointing an interim head coach for the three tests in the Caribbean but ruled out remaining a part of the ECB setup any longer than his initial short-term position as managing director of England men’s cricket.
Strauss strongly backed England test captain Joe Root to carry on in the role.
“It’s probably worth saying at this stage that Joe Root will be captaining the side in the West Indies,” Strauss said at Lord’s on Friday. “Having spoken to him it is absolutely clear the extent of his commitment to moving this England test team forward. He’s got incredible motivation and energy to do that.”
Harrison said the challenge was “to get the test team back on track,” and that he would be staying on to get that done.
“It has been exceptionally difficult,” Harrison said, “but I’m not running away because it needs leadership and it needs consistency in terms of how we build back and get to a place where the game can recover from an extremely difficult period, both on and off the field.”
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