It may seem left-field for England to put an Australian in charge of selection, but Marcus North has a deep connection with the domestic game in this country through his playing and administration careers.
England have been criticised for the time it has taken to make this appointment – Luke Wright’s departure was announced in January, almost four months ago.
Each county has already played four matches at the start of the season, which the new selector could have been across in the build-up to the series against New Zealand.
But North can hit the ground running, drawing on his own experience of playing Test cricket and his knowledge of county cricket.
He will know the options England have at their disposal when it comes to finding an opener, a spinner and some seamers, and what it takes to succeed at the highest level.
In promoting from county cricket, the appointment of North might help build some more bridges in the strained relationship between the counties and the England hierarchy.
Given England’s recent struggles down under and with a home Ashes series little more than a year away, having an Australian in the backroom can be no bad thing, either.
In the early days of the Brendon McCullum era, plenty of England’s punts hit the ground running. Ben Duckett returned to Test cricket with instant success, and the likes of Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith all started well.
Latterly, England’s selections have gone awry. Experiments involving Dan Lawrence opening the batting, or picking Josh Hull after a handful of first-class matches, have resulted in neither man being seen since.
In Australia, neither Zak Crawley nor Ollie Pope repaid the long-term faith shown in them. Bashir did not play and there was no reserve keeper to take the struggling Smith out of the firing line.
It might be North’s job to add a touch of a pragmatism to England’s hunches. The gaps in England’s team are obvious. Now North has to help McCullum, Rob Key and co to identify the players with the best chance of succeeding at the highest level.
