Giles wants England to play ‘hard cricket’

LONDON: Ashley Giles, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new Director of Cricket, wants England to be best in the world, both on and off the field.

Giles, the successor to Andrew Strauss in the role, stated that he wanted the team to play hard cricket on the field, but also said they needed to be the ‘most respected’ among fans for their conduct off the field.

“We still want people to play cricket hard,” said Giles.“We don’t want bland cricket played out on the field. What is that line? It is hard sometimes to know what it is, but I want us to play tough cricket on the pitch.

“But as much as I want us to be the best team in the world, I also want us to be the most respected team in the world over how we go about things. That is going to be challenged. There are going to be things that pop up that would go against that, but it is part of my role to manage that.

“The process in my role of consistently challenging and checking what we are doing and what the dressing room is doing is important. I can’t do it on my own. I’m not going to be in a tracksuit on the ground.

“We have some very good people in there I need to rely on and tap into. Again, how we play and how we are viewed outwardly is important to Tom (Harrison) and to Colin (Graves), but also really important to me is how we are seen and respected.”

Since their first-round exit at the ICC World Cup 2015, England have scripted a meteoric rise to the top in ODIs – they are currently No.1 in the ICC ODI Rankings. The team is as strong as ever, but could be further fortified ahead of the 2019 World Cup once tearaway paceman Jofra Archer becomes available for selection.

The fast-bowling all-rounder still needs to complete eligibility criteria to play for England – he is expected to do that in the coming months. “It will be exciting when Jofra is available,” said Giles.“Any guys who bowl 90mph-plus are going to create interest and get people out of their seats.”