Stephen Fleming is right – it’s embarrassing that England can’t produce their own elite coach. This is what the ECB are doing to fix their broken pipeline, reveals LAWRENCE BOOTH

Lawrence Booth argues that New Zealand's Stephen Fleming is right to suggest England should be coached by an English representative. The piece highlights how the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has regularly relied on foreign coaches for its major 21st-century successes, including Duncan Fletcher, Andy Flower, Trevor Bayliss, and Brendon McCullum. Booth contends this reliance reflects an innate lack of faith in the county game's ability to produce top-tier tacticians.

To address this pipeline issue, the ECB has introduced bespoke Level 3 coaching courses designed by Ed Barney and Diccon Edwards for active and recently retired players. Senior figures such as Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Heather Knight are participating in the programme. ECB managing director Rob Key stated that while England currently selects the world's best available candidates, the long-term goal is to develop top-quality English coaches.