Former Australia international Marcus North is reportedly the frontrunner to replace Ashley Giles as England's managing director.
Giles was sacked in the wake of England's humiliating 4-0 defeat to Australia in the Ashes, along with head coach Chris Silverwood and assistant coach Graham Thorpe. Sir Andrew Strauss has been tasked with finding Giles' replacement and the ECB are hoping to appoint a new managing director next month.
Several names have been linked with the vacancy, but the Times are reporting that North is the 'favourite' to get the job. North played a total of 24 matches for Australia across all formats and has been Durham's director of cricket since 2018.
England's former national selector Ed Smith is also said to be a 'leading candidate', while ex-England batter Rob Key is also in the frame. It has been widely reported that Key, who has worked as a pundit and commentator since his retirement from playing, was a contender for the role and he confirmed his interest on Thursday.
When asked about the role while commentating on the third Test between Pakistan and Australia, Key said: "There's a lot of speculation around, there's a lot of jobs up for grabs in English cricket. A fair few people have been asked, a fair few people are going for these jobs.
"The thing I have is that you have to weigh up how much golf you can get in doing some of these. For me, the lifestyle thing is the big issue."
The report also states that several other contenders for the job have already pulled out of the running. England legend Alec Stewart, who is currently Surrey's director of cricket, reportedly withdrew his interest due to family reasons.
Nathan Leamon, England's lead performance analyst in limited overs cricket, and former New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson are both said to have no interest in taking the role. Speaking last week, Strauss offered an update on the search for Giles' successor.
"We are making progress with it and we're obviously very conscious there's a ticking clock, both in terms of appointing a director of cricket and then of course the coach - or potentially coaches - on the back of that," he said.
"The ambition is certainly to have the Test coach in place by that first Test of the summer. In recruitment there are all sorts of moving pieces, including notice periods and I don't think we can categorically say that, but it's the ambition."
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