As the post-Ashes clean-up begins: England coach Chris Silverwood gets fired

England’s head coach, Chris Silverwood, has been fired, the latest in a slew of dismissals following the team’s poor performance in the men’s Ashes series. Silverwood left the team a day after his old boss, Ashley Giles, was fired as England men’s cricket managing director. With a Test trip of the West Indies on the horizon, Andrew Strauss, the new interim director of cricket, will choose a caretaker coach.

“Chris has sacrificed everything he has to make the position a success during his time in it. He is a man of great integrity with whom both the players and the staff have liked working. Chris has led England’s white ball sides to global rankings of one and second, as well as leading the Test team to a number of series victories, including away in South Africa and Sri Lanka. He has led the England Men’s team through an extraordinarily difficult moment for English cricket with remarkable tenacity and humanity, and he deserves our heartfelt thanks and gratitude,” ECB CEO Tom Harrison said.

Although the last two years have been extremely hard, I have thoroughly loved my time with the team and working with Rooty and Morgs, and I am quite pleased with this group in light of the obstacles. I’m leaving with wonderful memories, and I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my family at home before embarking on the next phase. It’s been a tremendous honor to serve as England’s head coach, and I’m happy to have worked with our players and staff. I want to thank them all for their hard work and dedication throughout my time in the position, and I wish them all the best in the future,” said Silverwood.

46 years old, Silverwood, after leading Essex to the County Championship the previous summer, joined England’s coaching staff as the bowling coach in January 2018. Following England’s World Cup victory but failure to retain the Ashes in the summer of 2019, he took over as head coach from Trevor Bayliss.