Nasser Hussain: Why Ricky Ponting or Justin Langer would fit as England’s next head coach | Cricket News

Sir Andrew Strauss refused to rule Langer – who resigned as head coach of Australia – out as a potential successor to Silverwood for the England men’s head coach role; Hussain believes former Australian captain Ponting would be ‘an exceptional candidate’

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Australian duo Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting would be strong contenders to replace Chris Silverwood as England’s next men’s head coach.

Silverwood and former managing director Ashley Giles were both sacked this week, following England’s 4-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia, with Graham Thorpe also leaving his position as assistant coach.

Langer is a possible to contender to replace Silverwood, with interim managing director of England men’s cricket Sir Andrew Strauss refusing to rule the 51-year-old out of the role, with Hussain believing the Ashes-winning coach would be a good fit for the England set-up.

“Langer would be very good for two reasons,” Hussain told Sky Sports News. “He has just played against England, so knows exactly where their strengths and weakness lie, as he’s literally been there and seen it.

“He’s also the type of character England need at the moment. They do need that micro-management and they do need that kick up the backside. There are not performing, and they’ve got to get results going, so Langer would be a good candidate.

“For me, Ricky Ponting would be an exceptional candidate. I’ve worked with Ricky and the moment I walk into a commentary box and listen to what he says or look at what he does in the IPL with Delhi, I just think that this lad has got a fantastic cricket brain.

“I wouldn’t just be picking up the phone right now and saying ‘Justin, you’ve just left one job, can you come and down this one’. I think Andrew Strauss is very calm and collected, he’ll go through the process and all the candidates and work which one is most suitable.

“You’ve also got to bear in mind what the candidate wants and what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for someone to do everything, going back to what Silverwood has been doing where you’re coach of the red-ball and white-ball cricket, then I think Langer would be the better candidate.

“The issue is a lot of these great candidates is that they’re away in the IPL coaching and they can earn a lot of money for eight weeks in the IPL, which means they probably can’t do the full-time job with England.

“That’s another good reason to split your red-ball and white-ball coaches. You can have a white-ball coach and then in red-ball cricket you can bring in a Ricky Pointing, Mahela Jayawardene or Stephen Fleming, so I’m very much for splitting the coaches.”

Should Root have stayed captain?

Root’s future as Test captain was questioned after the heavy Ashes defeat, although Strauss confirmed the 31-year-old would continue for forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

Strauss said Root’s commitment as captain of the Test team was “absolutely clear”, but Hussain believes Root’s long-term future in the role remains less certain.

“I think Joe Root is a pretty lucky lad, to be honest,” Hussain added. “All the mistakes Silverwood made are pretty much the same mistakes Joe Root is accountable for.

“Whether it be the toss at Brisbane, the selections throughout the Ashes tour, and various other things. Joe Root is a fantastic guy, fantastic player, and the most successful England captain we have ever had.

“Andrew Strauss has been that calm, sensible head, and we’re just delaying that decision on Joe Root because you just don’t know whether the next permanent coach coming in might want to go in a different direction.

“Strauss now is only interim; if he makes the change with Root now and the next coach or director of cricket wants to change things, his hands are tied behind his back. There are still plenty of decisions to be made.”

Hussain added: “If they’re going to stick with Joe Root – who is very calm and likeable – you’re probably going to need someone to dovetail off that. You’re probably going to need someone to push them a little bit harder.

“The problem for me in the current regime was they were very nice, calm people you’d like to have a beer with. Joe Root: lovely lad. Chris Silverwood: lovely lad. Ashley Giles: lovely lad. Marcus Trescothick: lovely lad. Paul Collingwood: lovely lad. Who are the ones going in saying: ‘That’s not good enough, we’re 30-4 again.’?

“The problem is with modern cricket and modern cricketers, there is a lot of player pressure in there.”