Ashley Giles is a very strong candidate to become the next England head coach, according to Mark Ramprakash.
Giles remains one of the front-runners to replace Andy Flower despite overseeing England’s dismal World Twenty20 campaign which ended with a shock six-wicket defeat by the Netherlands.
Ashley is very strong candidate. I think there will be other applicants because it is a fantastic job for someone
Mark Ramprakash
The 41-year-old, who played in 54 Test matches during a stop-start England career, is facing competition for the role from Australia coach Mickey Arthur and Lancashire chief Peter Moores.
But former England batsman Ramprakash was impressed with the former Warwickshire man when he took charge of the Lions in Australia last winter, and is backing Giles for the post.
“I was in Perth in Australia over November and December and Ashley was head coach for two weeks of that trip,” Ramprakash told The Sport Review, speaking on behalf of ESPNcricinfo.com.
“I was hugely impressed with him. I thought he handled himself very, very well. It was good for the players to have someone, who was obviously the ODI coach, to have him there and to communicate with the young players.
“He was able to give them insights into what he thinks is really important in international cricket. That was the real benefit.
Ramprakash continued: “Ashley is very strong candidate. I think there will be other applicants because it is a fantastic job for someone. England are rightly going to look at all the candidates for the job.”
Every coach has his own style and Ash has a very good record with the players
Mark Ramprakash
Last week, Michael Carberry criticised Giles’s man management after England’s poor performances against Australia in the limited-over series in January.
However, Ramprakash feels the England players are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Giles and his fellow coach Graham Thorpe.
“Ashley has his own style with players as all coaches do,” Ramprakash added.
“Now Andy Flower was accused of being perhaps, a little bit serious maybe. Everyone was talking about Darren [Lehmann] putting the fun back into cricket.
“Every coach has his own style and Ash has a very good record with the players. I’ve not been in the camp.
“I know him and Graham Thorpe are very highly respected guys and they are good guys. They’ll be there to support the players. They have a wealth of knowledge to call on.
“Those three guys are people that the players are lucky to have working with them.”
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