Colin Graves has promised "a lot of soul-searching" but "no witch hunt" as England try to plot a way forward after their miserable 4-0 Ashes trouncing this winter
Colin Graves
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London: Colin Graves has promised "a lot of soul-searching" but "no witch hunt" as England try to plot a way forward after their miserable 4-0 Ashes trouncing this winter.
England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Graves' remarks will come as a relief to those who believe the current regime of coach Trevor Bayliss and his assistant Paul Farbrace can still improve current fortunes.
Under Bayliss, since May 2015, England have lost more Test matches than they have won — mostly away from home, in India last winter and again in this Ashes campaign -- but there have been notable successes too at home to Australia and in South Africa.
The consensus is also that limited-overs prospects are very much on the up, with a World Cup as well as an Ashes rematch set to take place in England next year.
Graves suggested in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that tweaks to arrangements for Ashes tours — splitting Test and limited-overs campaigns across different years and improving the standard of warm-up opposition — may help to ensure better preparation in future.
"We have a very good relationship with Cricket Australia and we are already talking to [chief executive] James Sutherland,"
he said.
As for the response to a campaign in which Joe Root's tourists were largely outclassed, he added: "There will be a lot of soul-searching about how we can get it better for next time. Everyone is very disappointed. Everyone gave their all, but we have to do things better going forward."
Graves added: "There is no specific review.
"We have Andrew Strauss as MD of the England team and [ECB chief executive] Tom Harrison in charge, and I trust them completely to make the right decisions.
"There will be no witch hunt. We have to look at it and see how we can improve, so in four years' time we are better placed to win [in Australia] than we were this time."
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