Rahul Dravid has fallen out of the race to become England’s new Test coach following the sacking of Brendon McCullum. The former Indian head coach had made headlines earlier as one of the leading candidates to take up the spot vacated by McCullum. However, a trimmed-down nine-man list has been revealed by The Daily Mail, which does not mention Dravid. Alongside the former Indian batting legend, Andrew Flintoff, who is more of a cult hero in England thanks to his heroics in the Ashes 2005, has also found himself out of the running.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is racing against time to name a Test coach after McCullum was sacked from the role on Sunday. They will be facing Pakistan for a three-match Test series at home, with the first match starting at Headingley on the 19th of August. Meanwhile, the red-ball team also finds itself without a new captain after Ben Stokes took a surprise retirement.
No Rahul Dravid as England Test coach!
Rahul Dravid has coached the Indian team to T20 World Cup victory in 2024, and a second-place finish in the ODI World Cup 2023 is not among the nine men in the running to become England’s new coach in the longest format. Apart from his stint with the Indian team, Dravid has been involved with the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. However, he has not enjoyed much success in franchise cricket.
Additionally, Dravid’s India was the first team to defeat Brendon McCullum’s England when the two teams met in a five-match series in India in early 2024. Since then, the English team went on to lose series against Pakistan, Australia, and New Zealand while drawing against India at home.
Who will become England’s new Test coach?
With Rahul Dravid out of the running, there are nine contenders to become England’s new Test coach. Among the nine names are surprisingly two Australians, including Justin Langer, who has long been a fierce rival of the English team in the longest format. Alongside Langer, Tom Moody, who has been pretty busy coaching in franchise setups as well as international cricket, is another Australian contender to take up the role.
However, it is understood that the ECB wants former national team coach Andy Flower to take up the role and possibly leave behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru from the IPL, where he has won back-to-back titles in 2025 and 2026 as head coach.
Additionally, Jonathan Trott, who has coached Afghanistan to unprecedented heights, including a T20 World Cup semi-final finish in 2024, along with Gloucestershire’s Richard Dawson, are two contenders who have previously played for the national team.
The other options in the race to become England’s new Test coach are New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming and Mike Hesson, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and South Africa’s Adi Birell.
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
