Ireland vs England: Peter Moores hanging on by a thread as Andrew Strauss becomes director of cricket

Coach presides over one-dayer against Ireland with his future in balance after Windies setback

Under pressure England cricket coach Peter Moores inspects the pitch at Malahide, near Dublin, ahead of today’s one-day international against Ireland (Getty Images)

England coach Peter Moores touched down in Dublin with the uncertainty that hangs over his job ensuring he faces a far rougher ride in the coming days than the one he took across the Irish Sea hours after stepping off a flight from Barbados.

Andrew Strauss will be named as the England team’s director of cricket on Monday and his first task will be to decide on the coach’s future. It is telling that Moores, aware that his fate rests in the hands of a man who is not his biggest fan – he almost ended Strauss’s international career when he dropped him in 2007 – felt the need to rush over to Dublin to oversee his side’s solitary one-day international against Ireland.

Four years ago, in the afterglow of the series whitewash of India that propelled England to the top of the world Test rankings, the then coach Andy Flower gave this fixture a miss, handing over leadership of the side to Richard Halsall, his assistant.

Moores’ future hangs in the balance following an abject winter, with the humiliating group-stage exit from the World Cup compounded by a defeat in Bridgetown last Sunday as England surrendered a 1-0 Test series lead against a West Indies team written off as “mediocre” by Colin Graves, the incoming chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Strauss has seen off the challenge of two other former England captains (Getty Images)

The promised inquiry that Graves had threatened in case of failure in the Caribbean will not now materialise. But the fate of a jet-lagged Moores rests with Strauss.

Moores and the Test squad were told of Strauss’s appointment before their departure from the Caribbean.

Strauss has seen off the challenge of two other former England captains in Michael Vaughan and Alec Stewart to land the newly created directorship that replaces the managing director role Paul Downton vacated when he was fired last month.

Downton’s decision to reappoint Moores as head coach, five years after he had been sacked following an unsuccessful first spell in the job, was one of a number of questionable calls he made during his 15 months in charge of the national team.

So Strauss must decide whether Moores is the right man to lead England’s attempt to regain the Ashes this summer. Those close to the process of Strauss’s appointment believe the coach will be given at least the series against New Zealand to prove his assertion, offered in the aftermath of defeat in Barbados, that England are moving forward under his tutelage.

Yet if Moores’ future rests on the result of that two-Test series, which starts at Lord’s in 13 days’ time, then he could be in serious trouble. New Zealand annihilated England in a one-day international in Wellington in February on their way to the World Cup final. But they are not just limited-overs specialists, as evidenced by the fact they have not lost a Test series in 18 months.

Strauss will be keen to act decisively once he is installed in his new position. However, aware of the mistakes made by Downton when he sacked Kevin Pietersen in his first weeks in the job back in 2014, the 38-year-old may be prepared to bide his time before showing his teeth.

Seen as an establishment figure by many, especially those who hanker after an international return for Pietersen, Strauss knows that difficult decisions need to be made on his watch if the England team really are to move forward.

If Moores is sacked, the natural choice to fill in for him would be Paul Farbrace, his highly rated assistant. He could yet take charge of England as a caretaker this summer until a full-time replacement becomes available – Jason Gillespie, the Australian coach of the county champions Yorkshire, has been mentioned.

In the meantime, England face a tricky fixture against an Ireland team who, unlike England, managed to beat a major nation at the World Cup in West Indies.

In the absence of the current one-day captain, Eoin Morgan, who scored 63 from 28 balls for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, a young England team missing those involved in the third Test against West Indies will be led by James Taylor.

The Nottinghamshire batsman insists that the speculation over Moores’ future will not affect the team’s performance. “It’s an important game for everybody, not just for Peter Moores, and we must go out on the field and try to win it – no exception,” he said.

“He is in good spirits – he’s had a couple of cups of coffee so he is as high as a kite,” added Taylor. “The whole team are right behind him and it’s up to individuals to put in a match-winning performance in the middle.”

Dublin ODI details

Teams

Ireland (probable) WTS Porterfield (capt), PR Stirling, EC Joyce, NJ O’Brien, A Balbirnie, GC Wilson (wk), KJ O’Brien, JF Mooney, AR Cusack, GH Dockrell, CA Young

England (probable) AD Hales, ZS Ansari, JWA Taylor (capt), JM Vince, JJ Roy, SW Billings, JM Bairstow (wk), DJ Willey, TT Bresnan, ST Finn, MA Wood

Umpires M Hawthorne (Ire) & IN Ramage (Scot)

Weather Mostly overcast with chance of heavy showers in the afternoon. Maximum temperature: 11C

Television Sky Sports 2, 10.30am-7pm