Image courtesy of: Zimbio
“I believe I can do this job”
England limited overs coach Ashley Giles has announced that he believes he has what it takes to lead the national team in all three formats following the resignation of team director Andy Flower.
However, Giles’s chances of staying on as limited overs coach may be slipping away after England suffered a 15-run loss in the first ODI against the West Indies in Antigua.
“One thing I can’t do is coach and manage this side right now, with the view of it being a job interview,” Giles said. “I’m here to get the very best out of the best, to create the right environment – and of course, to win games of cricket for England.
“We are in a rebuilding and development phase…I have to do what is best for English cricket.
“If I was that concerned about results and this being my job interview, why wouldn’t (James) Anderson, (Alastair) Cook and (Ian) Bell be here during this one-day series?
“This is about preparing this side as best we can for Bangladesh, for the World Twenty20.
“I’m here to do a job for England. At the moment, I am the only England coach. I’m doing that job to the best of my abilities. Everyone will have a view about how good a coach I am or I am not.
“I just have to get on with my job, look after these guys and my management team – and together we go forward and try to win games for England.”
Speaking about the first ODI, Giles admitted that he was extremely disappointed with England’s performance, especially after their opening pair of Moeen Ali and Michael Lumb, both of whom were on debut, set up their chase of 270 with a brilliant 96-run partnership.
“It’s always worrying when you lose games of cricket,” Giles said. “We probably played the best cricket for 70 or 80 overs. It’s disappointing to lose from there.
“A lot of these guys are young and inexperienced, and they need to be placed in these situations time and time again to come through them.
“At different stages we didn’t quite get it right, and we can learn from the ways the West Indies did things at the back end of their innings.
“We’ve another big game tomorrow (Sunday), and we’ve got to go and win it. I’m not going to change the way I go about things because of what people think.
“My job here is to create a culture, to create an environment, where these guys can learn and they can flourish.
“We’re always judged on those results – but as I’ve always done as a coach, it’s about working from bottom up. I believe I can do this job. I’d be very proud to it as well.”