The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed former Kent captain-turned journalist Ed Smith as the new national selector of the men's cricket team.
The 40-year-old, who has appeared in three Tests for England, will hire a full-time independent England selector to work with him, alongside head coach Trevor Bayliss.
Reflecting on Smith's appointment, England cricket chief Andrew Strauss said that he hopes the former Kent skipper would come to the role with fresh ideas and help in implementing the structure that could become world-leading.
"Ed stood out as an ideal candidate for the role for a number of reasons. There is real depth to his talent identification knowledge and he's done a great amount of research into the subject," the ECB.co.uk quoted Strauss, as saying.
Ecstatic to take the role of the national selector, Smith said he is looking forward to work with Bayliss, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root and ensure that the team continue to perform consistently in all formats of the game.
"I'm delighted to take on the role of National Selector. I was very happy with what I was doing previously but the chance to be at the forefront of this development in English cricket was too good an opportunity to turn down. It is an exciting time for England cricket. I'm very much looking forward to working with Trevor, Joe and Eoin, as we work towards ensuring that the talent in English cricket feeds into consistent performances in all formats of the game," he said.
Smith has also made a total of 350 appearances in county cricket across a first-class career, which spanned 12 years.
His appointment comes as a part of restructuring of England's selection process, which aims at greater emphasis to scouting, assessing and selecting players for the senior men's Test, T20 and ODI sides.
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