English cricket – the concerns remain

Peter Moores will be named as England’s head coach for the second time this morning. I’m not denying his credentials – he recently steered Lancashire to the their first county title in nearly eighty years – but in my view this is a hugely negative step for England cricket, whose administrators seem pathologically disposed towards intrigues and cock-ups.

This decision confirms that the Kevin Pietersen era is over and thank goodness for that in my opinion. Pietersen, of course, did for Moores last time around by demanding and eventually prompting his sacking.

Maybe the England and Wales Cricket Board felt that Moores wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip then. Maybe they know something we – rather I – don’t. However, I fear this is just the latest example of well-meaning sporting administrators bottling a big call.

One thing I will give them, somehow they got right the decision not to appoint Ashley Giles.

As his T20 team slid to ignoble defeat against the Netherlands a few weeks ago, I’ve never seen less character and drive on a man’s face than when Giles sat wanly at the side of the pitch watching his batters self-destruct, along with his career. His subsequent post-match interview was the epitome of a meek capitulation. Being likeable is a nice-to-have, not a qualification for high office.

All organisations and operations have to go forward or die. In my experience, bringing back someone from the past like Moores rarely works out for the best.

I’d be happy to be proved wrong, but I have a bad feeling about the medium-term future of English cricket today.