England to SPLIT coaching duties if they are forced to play in different formats in quick succession due to coronavirus crisis fixture congestion – with Chris Silverwood keen to take charge of the Test side
- Paul Collingwood has been earmarked to take charge of the Ireland series
- But that series and the matches against India have been thrown into doubt
- One scenario is to play Test matches and white-ball games on consecutive days
- Head coach Chris Silverwood is reportedly keen to preside over the Test side
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
England will divide coaching duties if fixture congestion caused by the coronavirus crisis forces them to play in different formats in quick succession this summer.
Sportsmail revealed in November that assistant coach Paul Collingwood had already been earmarked to take charge of the one-day home series against Ireland, scheduled for September, as well as three 50-over matches in India soon after.
Both of those series have been thrown into doubt by the pandemic, with the ECB working out how to squeeze as much international cricket as possible — almost certainly behind closed doors — into whatever remains of the home summer.
England will divide coaching duties up if fixtures build up due to the coronavirus crisis
Paul Collingwood had already been earmarked to take charge of the ODI series against Ireland
One scenario is to play Test matches and white-ball games on consecutive days, which would require separate squads and backroom staff.
And with head coach Chris Silverwood understood to be keen to preside over the Test side, Collingwood and fellow assistant coach Graham Thorpe are in line to take charge of the white-ball teams.
Any such arrangement would not be without complications. The Twenty20 World Cup is scheduled to start in Australia in October, and England were due to play six 20-over internationals this summer: three each against Australia and Pakistan.
Head coach Chris Silverwood is understood to be keen to preside over the Test match side
Assistant coach Graham Thorpe is also in line to take charge of white-ball teams this summer
Ideally, Silverwood would work closely with the T20 team during the build-up to that event, but that may not be possible now — especially since he will also want to oversee England’s urgent bid for more points in the World Test Championship as they aim for next summer’s final.
The dressing room may also have to decide how to divide up their star multi-format players — the likes of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler.
Test cricket will take priority in case of a congested fixture list, leaving slots open in the T20 team for fringe players to make their case for the trip to Australia — assuming that tournament is not scuppered by the pandemic.
The dressing room must also decide how to divide up multi-format players like Ben Stokes
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