ED Smith to Take Over as ECB National Selector

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed former England cricketer turned journalist, Ed Smith as the new National Selector.

Meanwhile, Smith made three appearances for the three lions. However, and had played 350 games in the County Championship over 12 years.

Since then, he has forged a varied career in the media including stints as a commentator on the BBC’s Test Match Special. He has also authored several books post his retirement.

Smith succeeds James Whitaker, whose tenure ended last month. Further, he will appoint a full-time selector to work alongside him and England Head Coach, Trevor Bayliss.

Meanwhile, his first assignment will be to select the squad for the upcoming Pakistan Test series in May.

Delighted to take the role

Smith expressed his delight in to take up the role and admitted it was a too good opportunity to turn down.

“I’m delighted to take on the role of National Selector,” said Smith. “I was very happy with what I was doing previously, but the chance to be at the forefront of this development in English cricket was too good an opportunity to turn down. Selection and Talent ID have always fascinated me, and I’ve explored extensively how they are evolving,” he added.

He also admitted he is looking forward to working with Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root.

“It is an exciting time for England cricket. I’m very much looking forward to working with Trevor, Joe [Root] and Eoin [Morgan], as we work towards ensuring that the talent in English cricket feeds into consistent performances in all formats of the game,” Smith mentioned.

Has rich and varied experience

Director of England Cricket, Andrew Strauss stressed he is the right person for the role, as he has immense knowledge regarding this.

“Ed stood out as an ideal candidate for the role for a number of reasons,” Strauss said. “There is real depth to his talent identification knowledge, and he’s done a great amount of research into the subject. He has a rich and varied sum of experiences having played professional cricket for 12 years and having written extensively on cricket and other sports. As well as this he has a strong academic interest in high performance and excellent knowledge of the international game,” he added.

In conclusion, Strauss said he is looking forward to the changes made in the selection structure and talent identification.

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