Matthew Mott, who guided Australia’s women’s side to the ODI World Cup trophy in April, is expected to pip Paul Collingwood for the coaching job of England men’s limited overs side. As per ESPNcricinfo, an official announcement could be made later this week.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the Australian is likely to be preferred ahead of the former England cricketer Paul Collingwood as the ECB look to finalize the head coach position. Collingwood was the top contender, having overseen the recent tour of the Caribbean.
After appointing Rob Key as the managing director, the board opted to split up the coaching roles. Ex-New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum won the race for the Test coach job last week after impressing the interview panel of Key, consultant Andrew Strauss and chief executive officer Tom Harrison. It is understood that the panel has also consulted the white-ball captain Eoin Morgan for the head coach job.
Mott has been the head coach of the Australia women’s cricket team since 2015. Since then, he, along with captain Meg Lanning has shaped the team into invincibles. After their crushing defeat in the 2017 World Cup semi-final against India, Australia have enjoyed unheard dominance in the fifty-over format, winning 40 out of 42 matches. They went unbeaten to lift the 2022 World Cup earlier this year. Mott has also led the side to four Ashes series victories and two T20 World Cup titles.
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As for the coaching in men’s cricket, the 48-year-old has had stints with New South Wales and Glamorgan as the head coach and has also overseen Australia A tours.
Mott’s interview for the job went well, and his potential to forge a strong working partnership with Test coach McCullum makes him an ideal candidate. The two are known to be on good terms, with the former Kolkata Knight Riders head coach recommending Mott for the Kiwis head coach role when he was a player.
England had previously tried to split the coaching roles in 2012 and 2014, but it didn’t quite work out as Andy Flower and Ashley Giles had disputes over player availability.
