Graham Gooch
has been sacked as England's batting coach, the first of England's
backroom staff to lose his job since Peter Moores returned, after Alastair Cook decided the set-up needed a new face.
Cook, who has used Gooch as a mentor throughout his career, discussed
his decision with him beforehand and the England captain later said he
hoped players would still seek out Gooch who is England's Test
run-scorer and has been involved with English cricket for almost 40
years as a player through to various coaching and advisory roles.
As recently as this week Gooch was working with Matt Prior at Hove and
has also spent considerable time with Michael Carberry early in the
season. Known for his incredible work ethic, Gooch gave endless hours of
throwdowns - with his patented, remodelled dog thrower - to any batsman
who wanted them.
"After discussions with Alastair Cook he informed me that he was in
favour of change. Although this was sad news, I respect his, and new
coach Peter Moores, right to implement this change of direction," Gooch
said.
"In my opinion Alastair is the right man to captain England, he commands
respect and will always put his body on the line for his country. Over
the last decade or so he has been the ultimate professional to work with
and it has been an honour to see him develop."
Gooch was named England's batting consultant in November 2009, and took
on the role full-time in March 2012. In 2013, he passed on the
limited-overs batting responsibilities to Graham Thorpe, to focus his
attention on the Test team and the young players coming through for
England.
Thorpe is one of the favourites to take on Gooch's position although Mark Ramprakash has also been suggested as a candidate.
Paul Downton, the managing director, England cricket, said: "Graham has
been an outstanding coach for England over the last four and a half
years and is held in the highest regard by all those who have worked
alongside him. On behalf of everyone involved in England cricket I would
like to thank him for his incredible commitment."
Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen also noticed the news of Gooch's departure
and could not help but offer himself over Twitter. "Where do I apply
for ENG batting coach job? I promise I won't encourage whistling when
you get out or trying to change the game!" he posted, in reference to
some of the factors mentioned in his sacking by England earlier this
year, which reportedly included whistling after being dismissed.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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