Rob Key believes he can now “map out the next two years” for the England men’s teams, having handed out a record 39 central contracts and unveiled new split coaching setups under Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum that he hopes will produce homegrown candidates for the top roles in future.
Emilio Gay and Dan Lawrence also get one-year deals, as does Ollie Pope, despite being frozen out of the England XI since midway through last winter’s Ashes.
South African Eric Simons, an ally of Fleming at Chennai Super Kings and once described as “the best in the world” by Stokes, has been hired as the Test fast bowling coach.
But I certainly think there’s a number of coaches that have the potential not only to learn, but go and do the [head coach] job in the future.
Thirty main deals have been issued – up from 26 last year – while nine players have been handed development contracts that top.