Former England fast bowler Darren Gough, who played 58 Tests, 159 ODIs and 2 T20Is, and has more than 467 international wickets to his name, has slammed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for taking on board Marcus North as their new selector earlier this month. It may be noted that 55-year-old Gough was interviewed for the same role.
It appears losing to an outsider — North played for Australia back in the day and not with much distinction — is what’s irking Gough. The former fast bowler believes the decision is not going to help the ECB, which in recent years has been criticised for distancing county teams by going on and on with the same set of players despite their not doing well.
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“This is a hard role because there’s a lot of repair job to be done,” Gough told the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“They’re saying they are trying to bring England cricket and county cricket closer together – I don’t think they are because we’ve got a Kiwi coach [Brendon McCullum] and we’ve now got an Australian selector.
“I don’t think that’s brought the game closer to the county game at all. I do think there’s a big, big repair job there,” he added.
Gough also slammed ECB director of cricket Rob Key for saying the Aussie was a safer option over him. “He’s Australian – that’s not a safer option, is it? Key didn’t think I’d enjoy the role, which I didn’t agree with either because I wouldn’t have gone for that role.
“I love the sport and I’m into data and writing. I write a lot and watch a lot of cricket. I think it’s because he’s [North] director of cricket at Durham. I would say as director of cricket at Durham he doesn’t watch as much cricket as he probably should,” he said.
Oh, boy! Steven Finn also gets it!
Finally, Gough also slammed the ECB for allowing former England pacer Steven Finn to appear at the interviews. For Gough, Finn didn’t have a good enough CV.
“For this role, I don’t think he should have even got an interview. No management skills, no coaching skills. I don’t think he should have been anywhere near an interview for that job. Nowhere near.
“He might be in four years if he gets a bit more experience. He’s someone in four years who could easily do that job, absolutely no problem with him – a great lad. For this, it should have been someone with experience in those areas,” he said.
