England have appointed Geoff Miller to the newly-created post of national selector and sidelined the former chairman of selectors David Graveney.
Miller will head up a four-man selection panel which will include head coach Peter Moores but be without Graveney, the chairman of selectors since 1997.
Graveney has been moved into a performance director role in which he will be charged with overseeing the development of youngsters at the 18 academies set up by English counties.
Moores and Miller will be joined on the panel by two part-time selectors, former Test players Ashley Giles and James Whitaker.
Miller was part of the previous three-man selection team, alongside Moores and Graveney, and is appointed to a new role created as a result of a review ordered in the wake of England's poor performances in Australia in 2006-2007 and in last year's World Cup.
Miller, who played 34 Tests for England between 1976 and 1984, said: "This is a new post and I will approach it in my own way but I have learned a great deal from working with David Graveney on the selection panel since 2000 and wish him every success in his new role."
The new national selector does not intend giving up his sideline as an after dinner speaker specializing in anecdotes from his playing days.
"I won't give it up because it is part of me," he said. "I am in the entertainment business and I enjoy it."
"The actual job is the priority to me now but there are certain after dinner jobs I have to fulfil. If I have to cancel one or two then so be it but as it stands I can promote the game as well as speak," he said.
Graveney, meanwhile, has been left to reflect on the end of his involvement with England's elite players.
He said: "While I am naturally disappointed to be no longer directly involved with the England team, I am looking forward to taking up my new role and feel that I can play an important part in ensuring that we maintain a consistent flow of world class talent from the county academies into our international teams at all levels."
Miller added: "Yes, he was disappointed, there are no two ways about that, but he understands the situation and the friendship between David Graveney and Geoff Miller will not alter one iota."
Giles, part of England's 2005 Ashes-winning team, will combine his selector's role with that of director of cricket at Warwickshire.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS