Rob Key appointed as England managing director

The
England
and
Wales
Cricket
Board
(ECB)
confirmed
Key’s
appointment
on
Sunday.
He
replaces
Andrew
Strauss,
who
took
on
the
role
on
an
interim
basis
following
Ashley
Giles’ departure
in
February.

Key
will
have
responsibility
for
the
men’s
national
teams
and
the
performance
pathways
that
lead
into
them.
Additionally,
he
will
also
play
a
key
role
in
the
upcoming
High
Performance
Review.

He
will
be
under
pressure
to
engineer
a
turnaround
in
the
performance
of
the
men’s
Test
team,
which
is
without
a
head
coach,
selector
or
captain
after
skipper
Joe
Root
stepped
down
on
Friday.

England
have
won
just
one
of
their
last
17
Tests,
a
1-0
loss
in
their
recent
tour
of
the
West
Indies
making
it
four
successive
series
defeats.
The
cancelled
fifth
Test
from
India’s
tour
of
England
last
year
will
be
played
in
July
with
the
tourists
holding
a
2-1
lead
in
the
five-match
series.

Key
played
21
times
for
England
across
all
formats.
He
will
relinquish
his
role
at
Sky
Sports
to
take
on
the
task
of
transforming
England’s
red-ball
fortunes.

“It
is
an
absolute
honour
to
take
up
this
role,”
Key
said
in
a
statement.
“The
chance
to
have
an
impact
and
make
a
difference
is
an
opportunity
given
to
very
few
and
I
will
give
it
everything
I
have
to
try
shape
the
next
great
era
of
English
men’s
cricket.
“I
have
absolutely
loved
my
time
at
Sky
and
I
could
never
have
imagined
leaving
were
it
not
for
this
incredible
opportunity.
I’d
like
to
personally
thank
Bryan
Henderson
and
everyone
in
the
team
for
their
help
and
support.”

Welcome,

@RobKey612!

“It
is
an
absolute
honour
to
take
up
this
role.”

—
England
Cricket
(@englandcricket)

April
17,
2022

While
the
Test
team
continues
to
struggle,
England
will
defend
the
Cricket
World
Cup
they
won
for
the
first
time
in
2019
next
year
in
India
and
will
look
to
claim
the
T20
World
Cup
crown
in
Australia
this
year
having
lost
to
New
Zealand
in
the
semi-finals
of
the
2021
tournament.

“Although
at
this
current
moment
it
has
been
a
challenging
time
in
English
cricket,
I
also
think
it’s
as
exciting
a
time
as
I
can
remember,”
Key
added.

“With
two
of
our
teams
near
or
at
the
top
of
the
world
rankings
and
an
undoubted
amount
of
talent
in
our
game,
I
hope
to
try
and
bring
everyone
along
for
the
ride,
so
we
can
all
help
take
English
men’s
cricket
to
new
heights
across
all
formats.”

England
are
back
in
action
in
June
with
a
three-Test
series
against
reigning
world
Test
champions
New
Zealand,
which
will
take
place
alongside
a
limited-overs
tour
of
the
Netherlands.

India
then
return
to
complete
their
Test
series
before
facing
England
in
a
three-match
T20
and
ODI
series,
with
South
Africa
then
touring
the
country
for
series
in
all
three
formats.