English cricket has turned to an Australian for the first time to choose its Test and white-ball teams with Marcus North poised to be appointed the new national selector.
The former Aussie Test batter will be the first overseas cricket official to hold the post, having become closely involved in the English game as a player at six counties and as the director of cricket at Durham, where he's worked closely with Test skipper Ben Stokes.
The appointment has yet to be confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board but multiple news outlets in the UK reported on Thursday that 46-year-old North, who played 21 Tests for Australia and scored five centuries, has landed the job ahead of domestic competition.
He will replace Englishman Luke Wright, who's made a personal decision to leave, in what will be the most significant change in England's backroom staff since the crushing 4-1 Ashes defeat.
North will join forces with Brendon McCullum, the New Zealander who's head coach, Rob Key, the director of cricket, Test skipper Stokes and white-ball captain Harry Brook in selecting all England men's squads and, according to reports, will have the 'final say' over decisions in a way that Wright never had.
England Lions coach Andrew Flintoff, performance director Ed Barney and David Court, the ECB's head of player identification, are also selectors.
North will also be involved with selection for the Lions, effectively the nation's second-tier team, as well as liaising with counties and leading scouting.
North's first job could be to select the squad for England's first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on 4 June.
Some 80 candidates were said to have applied for the job, with North reportedly getting the nod ahead of leading English candidates, including former Test players Darren Gough and Steven Finn.
North has lived in the north-east of England for two decades and has been a big part of the English cricketing landscape, having played for Durham, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, where he finished his career in 2014.
He's also been credited for playing a big part in Durham's rejuvenation as a cricket county over the past decade after their relegation in 2016 following financial woes.
