England’s Peter Moores heads to Ireland knowing ODI could be his last game

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/06/peter-moores-england-coach-andrew-strauss

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Peter Moores completes the 4,000-mile journey from Barbados to Dublin on Thursday in time for Friday’s one-day international against Ireland knowing his future as England’s head coach has probably already been decided.

Moores has been told that Andrew Strauss has agreed to take the job as the new director of England cricket – confirmation of which could spill into next week – and will be fully aware that discussions over his own position took place during the recruitment process. He remains a popular figure among the senior players and support staff, including the Test captain, Alastair Cook, and is understood to be relaxed about his fate.

Defeat against West Indies on Sunday was the 22nd in 41 matches across all formats during Moores’ second, 13-month spell in charge, however, and saw the series drawn, thus falling short of the pre-series demands of the incoming England and Wales chairman Colin Graves, who claimed there would be “inquiries” should Cook’s side fail to beat such “mediocre” opposition.

FThe former Test captain Strauss will already know how serious those comments were intended to be by Graves, who officially replaces Giles Clarke at the end of next week to begin a five-year tenure at the head of English cricket alongside the chief executive, Tom Harrison. Moores will hope this new triumvirate have between them decided to give him the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand that starts at Lord’s on 21 May and will arrive in Dublin with his assistant Paul Farbrace in time to take charge of training.

The fixture at the Malahide Cricket Club will be England’s first one-day international since their embarrassing group stage exit from the World Cup and Harrison is also expected to be in attendance.

Given the experimental nature of the 13-man squad that sees those who played on the Caribbean tour rested, the result against Ireland, who outshone England at the World Cup, will not tip the balance either way. However, defeat would serve as a painful reminder of the winter of white-ball woe.

The proximity of the Ashes series, which begins in Cardiff on 8 July, means Strauss may already be intending to move quickly on Moores, even if it requires the former Sri Lanka coach Farbrace to operate in a caretaker capacity against New Zealand while the long-term replacement is secured.

Another who will soon learn where he stands is the national selector James Whitaker, with the new director of England cricket position – the details of which have not been made public – privately tipped to absorb those responsibilities, thus leaving his job redundant.

While the appointment of Strauss almost ends any remote hope of Kevin Pietersen playing for England again, the 34-year-old batsman is expected to continue playing for Surrey until the Caribbean Premier League begins in late June.

Speaking on Wednesday, Pietersen gave his verdict on the upcoming appointment, insisting Strauss must move to reunite a fanbase divided by Pietersen’s removal from the side in February last year. “I hope Strauss and the ECB bring the public back to the team after a treacherous 15 months,” he told the Breathesport website. “They owe it to the fans! He has some huge decisions. Hope he gets them right.”