VOX POP: Should England cricket go foreign in its search for a new coach?

DAVID GOWER

SKY TV ANALYST

Surely the first thing they should be doing is looking for a good coach. If you can show me an overseas one who is so good we cannot but go for him, then fine. But I don't think we necessarily need to look abroad. The problem is there aren't that many leaping out at you. Jack Birkenshaw has done a very creditable job at Leicestershire, getting the most out of decent county players. But as far as I'm concerned, Bob Woolmer is the best one around. And he's at least English by birth, even if he's South African by allegiance.

MARK NICHOLAS

CHANNEL 4 TV ANALYST

I truly believe England should employ the best coach available. If that means that we have to look outside of England then so be it, although it would obviously be an indictment of English cricket if it had to be so. As far as I am concerned, the two obvious choices are an Englishman, Bob Woolmer [who is the present South African coach] and a Zimbabwean, Duncan Fletcher [the Glamorgan First XI coach]. They would be different in terms of their coaching, but in their own way very much ideal for the job.

JIM LOVE

SCOTLAND COACH

I think that it probably does matter whether the next coach comes from abroad or home. It's a rather poor show if you can't find someone who is English for the job. But the decision has to be based on what is best for English cricket at this moment. Perhaps David Lloyd has his own man who he wants to take over. I know that Jack Birkenshaw and Bob Woolmer have been mentioned, but I don't know if either of them wants the job. I guess that, ultimately, if the coach comes from overseas then so be it.

MATTHEW MAYNARD

GLAMORGAN CAPTAIN

I don't think that it matters. It's simply a question of getting the right man for the job. Nor does it matter whether he is a manager or a coach. What is far more important, however, is for one man to be in charge, not 10. The job should then go to someone who has a positive outlook and is a bit of a disciplinarian. It is irrelevant where he comes from. I can only speak from experience, but I think that Duncan Fletcher is a super coach. He has a very tactical brain and is a good motivator, which is exactly what the team needs at this moment in time.

CLIVE RICE

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COACH

All you want to do is get the best person available. It is totally irrelevant where he comes from. He could be English, Japanese, Spanish, whatever. As long as he's good, then he should get the job. Look at Manchester United this season: they had a Scottish coach and won the treble. Well, it is exactly the same for the English cricket team. If you want to win and get results on the field of play, you need to go out of your way to bring the best possible man to the post. That's the important factor, not whether he is English or foreign.

DENNIS AMISS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WARWICKS

What we are looking for and want is the best possible person available for the job. It goes without saying that it would be nice if we could find someone who came from within the English game. But the main thing is that we need to find somebody who is free and available to do the job. And if that somebody happens to be from abroad, then that would have to be it. Ultimately, though, if we were able to persuade the right Englishman to take on the role, that would be a truly wonderful situation.

ALEX HAYES