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.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB