Mark Ramprakash, the England batting coach, has revealed he won’t be part of the Ashes later this year. The former England batsman made the announcement on Twitter on Friday (March 8).
“I’ve just been informed that I will not be involved in the Ashes series. It’s been a huge privilege to support the team over the last five years. I’d like to wish all the staff and players the very best of luck for the future,” Ramprakash tweeted shortly before the start of the second T20I between England and Windies.
ECB later released a statement confirming the same. “We will finalise the coaching set-up for the Ashes in the next couple of weeks. Mark Ramprakash will not be part of the coaching set-up for the Ashes,” the statement read.
The move comes after England’s embarrassing 1-2 loss in the three-Test series against Windies. The visitors were then kept to a 2-2 draw in the ODI series as well. Ramprakash’s role has come under scrutiny every time the England batsmen have struggled of late. While Ramprakash works with the batsmen in the Test team, Graham Thorpe has been taken over the role with the limited-overs side in recent times.
The move also comes soon after Paul Farbrace announced he will be taking over the role of sporting director at Warwickshire after the Windies tour. England head coach Trevor Bayliss too will step down from his role in September 2019.
Ramprakash was appointed England’s batting coach in November 2014 after working with Middlesex as batting coach since December 2012. In May last year, he was appointed the interim head coach of England Lions after the position was left vacant by Andy Flower, who took up the role of director of England Cricket as Andrew Strauss decided to take a break to be with his ailing wife.
Ramprakash played 52 Tests (2350 runs) and 18 ODIs (376 runs) between 1991 and 2001. England play a one-off four-day Test against Ireland in July before starting their campaign at Edgbaston on August 1.
