Andrew Strauss has praised England’s assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, for his leadership during the recent series against New Zealand and hopes he will become the head coach in the future.
When the position became available in May, Farbrace indicated to Strauss that he did not want to be considered for the top England job but would be happy to continue as the assistant.
Speaking at an event to promote Cricket for Heroes, an all-star Twenty20 match being played at the Kia Oval in September, Strauss said: “I very much hope Farbrace has now had his appetite whetted for the job at some point in the future.” The England director of cricket added: “I dealt with him quite a lot over the month he was in charge and I found him absolutely outstanding in every department.
“He’s more than happy to go back to being No2 now but I hope that at some stage he’ll put his name forward [for the head coach role].”
Farbrace is credited with being instrumental in turning the England squad into the more relaxed and entertaining one seen against New Zealand and Strauss believes he and the new head coach, Trevor Bayliss, who already have a strong relationship, will complement each other superbly.
“Paul is quite similar to Trevor. He doesn’t overcomplicate the game and he was very conscious not to try and fill the void left by the absence of a coach, and instead hand it over to the players. They responded very well to that,” Strauss said, with the Ashes series against Australia starting on Wednesday.
Fabrace is very familiar with Bayliss’s approach, having been his assistant coach with Sri Lanka from 2007 to 2009 before taking over the No1 job himself in 2013. The two men have a clear bond and a shared philosophy after working together for so long.
Asked why he thought Farbrace did not want to be considered for the head coach role, Strauss said: “I think he probably felt he was just getting used to the England set-up and wasn’t quite ready to go on to the next level. It’s a moot point, though. Ultimately, Trevor is in position now and we hope he has a long and productive association with English cricket.
“I’ve got confidence he will do a great job but Farby is a fantastic guy and everything we’ve seen suggests he could do the job really well, too.”
