Ashley Giles: England can win Cricket World Cup and regain Ashes in 2019
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England can regain the Ashes and capitalise on their "best opportunity" to win a World Cup in 2019, says new director of cricket Ashley Giles.
Giles, 45, succeeded Andrew Strauss in the role in December after the former England captain stepped down to support his late wife's cancer battle.
He will oversee plans for the World Cup - beginning 30 May - before a Test series against Australia in August.
"I need to make sure there's no interference to derail us," said Giles.
The former England spinner told BBC Sport: "I believe we can win the World Cup and the Ashes. This year creates probably the best opportunity for a long time.
"I think with World Cups we found ourselves, in the past, suddenly running into a bit of a meltdown or change - that's not the case this time around."
'Strauss' legacy is clear'
England and Wales will host the World Cup, which is held by Australia following their 2015 win.
Giles praised the legacy of Strauss in improving England's fortunes in the shortest forms of the game; pointing to the country's rank as number two in the world in Test cricket and number one in the one-day game as evidence of a balance being struck.
"I think the focus on white-ball cricket has been a real step change in what we do," added Giles. "I was involved from a coaching perspective in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and white ball played second fiddle to Test cricket.
"Andrew addressed that balance and the results are pretty clear. I know it must have been incredibly difficult to give up the role on the eve of a World Cup he has worked so hard towards."
One head coach or two?
Giles said his team were "devastated" for Strauss, who lost his wife Ruth to cancer in late December.
He says he hopes to sit in on selection for both the World Cup and Ashes before turning his attention to appointing a successor to head coach Trevor Bayliss, who will leave his role after overseeing both events this summer.
Giles was sacked as England's limited-overs coach in 2014 after a period in which coaching duties were split, with Andy Flower in charge of the Test team.
A return to splitting duties for different formats of the game between two men is again an option, with Giles adamant "it can work".
"My experiences with Andy don't lead me away from doing split coaches," he added.
"What we are seeing with players is, once where we thought we may have red-ball and white-ball players, a lot play a few forms of the game now. There is a case to have the same guy managing them.
"With the workloads we have coming up, it is one of the options to have split coaches, either at the top or underneath.
"There's always a shelf life to this too. You're not going to be in coaching or management for 10 years. A dressing room stops listening."
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I wouldn't be too sure about that. Australia haven't won an Ashes series in England since 2001 and, even if Smith and Warner are selected, there's no guarantee that they will play like they did. I feel that they will be given stick wherever they go and we've all seen how thin skinned Warner can be when he is given it back. The Aussie selectors might also feel that Warner is a gamble too
That being said, come on England!
So funny how England big themselves up ahead of performing...you guys never seem to learn
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Lol. He said "can" not "will".
What's even funnier watching big mouth Australian cricket fans make even bigger idiots of themselves on these HYS boards whilst their team crumbles.
Failing to regain the Ashes would be nothing short of a disaster, and we may as well call time on first class cricket in England and Wales.
As for the Ashes, if much better Aussie teams couldn't win here recently, unlikely the current squad (+Smith) will. So nothing unachievable.
So that's way you can hardly get a ticket for the Ashes for love nor money in January then is it. And the few day 4 tickets left are 3£100.00 minimum.
He doesn't control what BBC says in it's headlines!
India and Kohli will be their main rivals but with the depth of this Eng side even if Joe Root doesn't play they'd still beat most sides in ODIs. Eng to win WC and Ashes
No of Britons who have died for Australia - zero
I'm sorry but that's completely untrue. The Japanese Empire planned an invasion of Australia in WW2 but were repulsed by the allies inc British soldiers and sailors. Australia was self governing by this point. There were British deaths defending that sovereignty.
Ashley Giles 2nd best spinner ever behind Murali??????
He wasn’t/isn’t even the 2nd best in England
Pick any one from Swann, Laker, Underwood, and a number of others
RE: Aussie cheating. Almost everyone in cricket was sick of the "hard but fair" hypocrisy. Even some in CA realised, if you live by the sword...
Any of the top 5 or 6 can beat the others in a one off match.
Tough to call all of the semi-finalists.
Should be a great watch.
Some might say they tipped the balance too far the other way. In ECB, white ball cricket now has priority over the red ball game, to the clear detriment of the latter.
Managed properly, they should exist side by side. The current approach is divisive & destructive to the long term interests of the game.
That's fair enough! I dislike such comments 2. We do have "special relationship" banter-wise, but HYS doesn't aid subtlety. Ignore idiots! Am embarrased about our indiscretions 2. But Aus went round telling world where The Line was & resentment built up.