Gary Kirsten Expresses Desire To Coach The England Team With Sir Alastair Cook

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Former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten has said that it would be a "massive privilege" to coach the England side, adding that if given the opportunity he would look to recruit Sir Alastair Cook to help him "rejuvenate England's Test team".

The former opener's comments come after speculations rose over current England coach Chris Silverwood's future after the Test side lost the Ashes in just 12 playing days. Moreover, England have lost nine Tests in 2021 under Silverwood.

The 37-year-old Cook is regarded as one of England's best cricketing minds, having played 161 Tests and scored over 12,400 runs.

Kirsten, who guided both India and South Africa to the top of the Test rankings in his avatar as coach, said on Friday that he would waste no time in approaching "the best minds" in English Test cricket to help him with the job he was overlooked for earlier.

"It would be a massive privilege to be offered a job of that nature. Three years ago I was asked to come for an interview and my focus is always on the form of the game where I think the team can go to new heights. 'The first conversation I would have with the powers that be is to make sure you have in the room the best five or six experts on the Test game in English cricket. So for me, the stand-out would be Alastair Cook," Kirsten told dailymail.co.uk on Friday.

Kirsten said that an unsettled England top-six was one of the reasons for the Test team's poor showing in the year gone by. The Joe Root-led side's latest humiliation has come in the form of the Ashes defeat, where they have so far lost all three Tests by huge margins.

"He (Cook) would have to be in the room to discuss the game going forward in England. There's a lot to be encouraged about in English cricket but when I was with Welsh Fire (The Hundred) last summer I asked coaches who their top-six should be for the England side and I never got the same answer from anyone. That to me is a red flag. You have to have a settled top six," said Kirsten.