The ECB will review Thorpe’s performance after the New Zealand series
England have appointed former batsman Graham Thorpe as their new limited overs batting coach for the ongoing limited overs series against New Zealand.
Thorpe will replace Graham Gooch, who is set to continue his role as the batting coach of the Test side until next summer.
This is just the latest reshuffle in coaching positions England have made over the past few months and they seem to be separating the coaching set-up for Test cricket and limited overs cricket.
Recently, England appointed former left-arm spinner Ashley Giles to take full control of everything relating to the limited overs squads, while Andy Flower is now restricted to coaching the Test team.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Hugh Morris stated that Thorpe’s performance would be reviewed at the end of the New Zealand series, upon where the board will consider hiring him on a permanent basis.
“Graham Gooch’s work in India made a real step change to the way we played spin bowling and was a factor in us winning that Test series,” Morris said. “We’ve got an enormous amount of very high-profile Test cricket and we want Graham to focus his attention on working one-on-one with our Test players.
“Graham Thorpe, who has been working alongside the Lions as one of our coaches for the last 12 months or so, will be going to New Zealand as one-day batting coach. He’s made a good impression as a batting coach and he is looking forward to the opportunity to go there.”
While Gooch has already made an impact in the Test squad, where his coaching and advice helped England bat for nearly 10 hours to draw the final Test against India in Nagpur and end their 28-year losing streak with a 2-1 win, Thorpe, on the other hand, will be looking to rapidly develop many of the youngsters in the limited overs squads, especially Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have worked closely with him during their time with the England Lions.
Gooch, like Flower, also said that the large amount of time he has to spend away from his family during tours spurred him to ask the ECB to hire a second batting coach.
Bowling coach David Saker may be the next person in line to ask for another coach to be brought in to take charge of the limited overs squads due to identical reasons, but he also stated that he would continue in his current position until the end of the back-to-back Ashes series since he has “unfinished business” with the national team.
If Thorpe is to pass his probationary test, then he will be buffeted and slammed with assignment after assignment as England host the Champions Trophy in June before heading to Bangladesh in March 2014 for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20, which is followed by the ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the year after.