Ashley Giles looks forward again after shock of England P45

 

Colin Crompton
Tuesday 03 June 2014 23:49 BST
Comments
Ashley Giles: 'It was disappointing, but we move on. I do have bad days, but I still want England to do well'
Ashley Giles: 'It was disappointing, but we move on. I do have bad days, but I still want England to do well'

Ashley Giles has revealed that the arrival of his P45 redundancy form in the post this week hammered home the rejection he felt at being removed from his role as England's limited-overs coach.

The 41-year-old had looked in pole position to succeed Andy Flower as England head coach, but a run of poor one-day international results during the winter counted against him and the job was given to Peter Moores instead.

Giles is now out of work and has taken to turning out for Nuneaton in the Warwickshire League, with his match fee donated to the Brain Tumour Charity.

During the interval in the one-day international at Edgbaston, Giles told the BBC's Test Match Special how upset he was at being overlooked by England.

"It was disappointing, but we move on," he said. "I still have bad days, where it's difficult to watch what's going on, but I still want England to do well. I went from being one of the most connected people in English cricket, to being completely disconnected, to getting my P45 in the post the other day. I'm keen to start looking forward."

He added that he considered himself in with a good chance of getting the job eventually given to Moores but conceded that England's elimination in the group stage of the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March did him no favours.

"I thought I was a front-runner, but losing to the Netherlands was the final nail in the coffin. We used the word 'complacent' probably too loosely. It was quite English, we were already out, playing a minnow and with thoughts on going home.

"We were the only team to beat the champions Sri Lanka in that tournament. I was pretty desperate during the Netherlands game. It just unfolded in front of us. Two hours later we were on the plane and going home. I was quite angry in the dressing room. I don't regret what I said. I said it was the sort of performance that could cost people their jobs and perhaps I was right."

The former Warwickshire director of cricket ruled out a quick return to coaching. "A lot was said as soon as I lost the job," he said. "The Sri Lanka job came up – I'm not sure they would have wanted me anyway – but it wasn't right. I'll take a proper chance to sit back and reflect. I've just signed up for a Masters course in sports directorship."

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in